SPF SIX ZILLION

A small biology lesson today.  

Watch out for the sun.  (Fine advice from a guy who just moved to Phoenix, right?)

When I was a young lad of half Norwegian descent I loved the sun and would play outside until I was burned to a crisp.  I never really tanned all that well, I just got sunburned.  Or as Woody Allen says "I don't tan, I stroke!"

As I got older and older I continued to worship the sun, spending many, many days at the beach and usually ending up with yet another sunburn.

Now, finally, I'm paying the price for it.

Those red spots above my right eyebrow (that's the one on the left in this photo) are tracks from my new dermatologist's liquid nitrogen spray.  That's how they take care of minor skin cancers these days.  Freeze them to the point of pain with a very cold spray.

Then there are the others, which require more invasive treatment, like the squamous cell carcinoma my former dermatologist cut out of my upper arm awhile back.  It left a barely discernible scar but it's still a scar.

Now that I'm an Old Fart, I can say whatever I want.  Here is what I say.  Stop tanning.  Use the highest SPF factored sunscreen you can find.  Wear a broad-brimmed hat.  

Avoid.  The.  Sun.

You'll thank me someday.