I’m feeling a little like Goldilocks today.  I know that life is all about finding balance, but sometimes that balance, that sweet spot between what is too big, too small, too much, too little, is more delicate than I know how to deal with.

I am writing this as I sit in the Miami airport waiting for my friend, Becca, to arrive from Illinois.  Several months ago, she called me and said that she needed to get away and go do something fun and asked if I was up for an adventure.  We couldn’t coordinate our schedules until now, during the after the holidays lull  Once our workable dates were decided, we moved on to where to go and what to do.  We knew that traveling at this time of year could be risky, but it was a risk we were willing to take.  And considering that we both left home this morning with the threat of imminent bad weather this afternoon our instincts were correct. At the time that this adventure needed to be planned and reservations made, both of us were also too busy to spend a lot of time figuring out a bunch of details.  I finally suggested that we do a cruise.  That is about the most stress-free kind of vacation there is.  All you have to do is get yourself on the ship and then it’s sit back and relax.  Perfect!  The only thing is that at this time of year, our only choices of destinations were Mexico and the Caribbean.  Again, scheduling made great choice for us; we would go to the Caribbean.  Honestly, the where really didn’t matter much to me.  Relaxation and spending time together were more important.  

We told everyone that we were going to go to the Caribbean to work on our winter tans.  

Anyone who knows us knows that this is an absurd statement.  Two girls with albinism hanging out in the sunshine are never going to get tan.  Not only will we just turn super red, our adult minds are well aware of the risks associated with too much sun exposure.  Here is where that delicate balancing act comes into play.

Most of my childhood happened before sunscreen was “a thing.”   Sunscreen as we now know it dates from the 1970’s.  I had a lot of outdoor time as a kid without sunscreen before the late 70’s.  Admittedly, as an adult, I am paying for that.  My skin is sun damaged and I did have a squamous cell carcinoma removed from my arm ten years ago.  I am now a fairly diligent user of sunscreen, though the damage from those early years has already been done.  I also do wear long sleeves and minimize exposure to the sun as best I can without giving up living life to its fullest.  Hence our trip to the Caribbean…with lots of sunscreen packed.

And just when you think you are doing things right…

I was sitting in the airport in Dallas this morning, just a few minutes before boarding my flight, when I received a call from my doctor with the results from recent routine blood tests.  She told me that my vitamin D levels are extremely low and that she is calling in a prescription for 50,000 something or others to be taken each week.  Awesome.  Guess what causes our bodies to make vitamin D…sunshine!   

Where is the balance e here?  Too much sunshine and you run the risk of wrinkles and skin cancer.  Too little sunshine and you have a vitamin D deficiency.  In the words of Goldilocks, where is the “it’s just right” place in this equation?

I think the doctor should just prescribe a winter cruise to a sunny location each year and that my health insurance should pay for it.  It is a medical necessity, right?!

Bon voyage!