Your Skin Is In This Monday’s Game
Save Your Own Skin Game Skin Protection For Fly Fishing
What’s the two letter word I’m looking for this morning? Funny, there’s never a shortage of words … reminds me of a line in the fantastic film “The Post,” when Tom Hanks says, “Write like a poet, not a novelist.” Oh yeah, I remember the two letters: O and N, it is ON. The game is afoot.
Good Monday morning and welcome to the sidewalk. This is the day we leave our front porches, stagger like the 1960’s Kris Kristofferson version – to the sidewalk, and put one foot in front of another, staring down to make sure we really are walking with both feet forward. Forward, always forward.
My Mondays have evolved in the last year to be a day of simple physical recovery from weekly three-day epic workouts – going on nearly a year now. Nietzsche said, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger,” and if you believe that …
BODY – MIND – SOUL
Today is the official melanoma Monday, and time to recall the ways we can take care of our skin – and our eyes as well!
I have written many stories over the years on how to take care of different body parts by protecting them from the sun. Rather than send you to those stories, let me take a minute and do a brief rundown.
- Wear a wide brim hat. I like the hats offered at a company called, Sun Body Hats out of Houston, Texas. They are importers, not actual makers of straw hats. Don’t get too sentimental over your hat. Pull out a can of black paint, stuff the crown area with paper and paint the underside of the brim black.
- Wear polarized UV blocking sunglasses to protect your eyes from UV light.
- Buff neckwear may look funny, and it may be unappealing to some, but it will protect your neck, and pull it up to go around your face / ears / jawline and mouth. Consider buying a straw big enough sized to actually allow your Buff to go under the hat! Neckwear also does a fantastic job of regulating body temps as well.
- Long sleeves and long pants with UV ratings are a must for our tropical exposure.
- If you choose to expose anything to the sun, I firmly believe in Smart Shield products, which are proven to be effective and do not harm fly lines or live bait! I was introduced to Smart Shield on a photography trip to Tulum, Mexico, in 2006 – by a Smart Shield executive, used it on that trip, and never ever considered any other sunscreen since then.
- COVER YOUR FEET too, or be willing to slather them with sunscreen. Feet are as sensitive as any part of your body that never sees the sun (know what I mean?).
Consider post exposure maintenance with your own formula of oils. Sun or no sun, because of my cancer experience, I use a concoction that includes a base of coconut oil with helichrysum, frankincense, CBD rich cannabis oil (no THC) and a dose of vitamin E just for good measure. This stuff is pretty easy to find, with the exception of the most vital ingredient in my personal formula – helichrysum. That one is expensive and not easy to find. Here’s the deal: In the long run, considering insurance deductibles, missing work, and the cost of formulated moisturizers – YOU WILL SAVE MONEY!
ON – Winds are a paltry 5-10 today, so make sure you get some sunset action at the very least, and if you are looking to pull the trigger on a guided skiff outing – time to start working on YOUR calendar. Be sure to request the new Guide Pricing brochure today. The format has changed this year – after years, to make more numerical sense of how and when we fly fish for carp.
Category: Apparel, Body-Mind-Soul, Complimentary Reading, Culture on the Skids, Hot Spot, Life Observed, Science and Environmental
