Minutia

My Irish is up and I'm feeling cheeky

I've been on Blog Hiatus and it still may end up being The Summer of Bloglessness.  Living in a summer resort area and having the kids on summer vacation (although I'm not) it's hard not to follow the academic calendar and fall into the laid-back mode.  It seems because it's summer I'm incapable writing or thinking much beyond a grocery list. (and if you see me wandering aimlessly in S & S then you know I can't even accomplish that!)  Besides attempting to avoid puddles of perspiration by wearing shorts and eating way too much ice cream, I've yet to do the ultimate summer thing!  A Day at the Beach!  Finally on Saturday I dug out the bathing suit purchased last summer on sale and still never worn, packed the canvas bag with The Sun Also Rises, towel & sunscreen; cooler with sandwich, fruit, water and Double Stuff Oreos, grabbed a chair and headed for "the reason we all live on the Cape."

It was a great day, saw some friends and gabbed a bit, nice breezes, relaxed, finished my book and did some crosswords with a tattered book found in the bottom of my bag.  All was well until the end of the day.  Home from the sea & sand, outdoor-showered, dressed and ready to grill supper, I just needed to do that, I'm-40-now-and-my-face-needs-moisturizer-after-the-beach-thing.  Being my first day on the beach, naturally I checked for color in the mirror and I saw my own jaw drop in disbelief.

(A little personal history/info is necessary here.  I am ½ Italian and the other ½ is mostly Irish & some mongrel mix of pale European & who knows?  My older sister and brother took after my Dad and look undeniably Italian with black hair and dark eyes.  When I was born, Mom let out a cheer - blond & blue-eyed - a nod to the Old Sod.  Despite Irish features, my complexion has favored my Mediterranean heritage.  I've always tanned, even before any of us ever used sunscreen.)

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest (-skinned) of them all?  The visage staring back at me had my Mother's Irish freckles on my cheeks!  But wait, not quite right - some small parts of my face were tanned.  It's like my ethnic background was impossibly duking it out on my face in imagined match between Rocky Marciano and Jack Dempsey.  Irish and Italian expletives (that I will not write) began streaming from my mouth.  What does this mean?  This is disturbing, is my life half over?  So I spent the first 40 years of my life with Irish features and an Italian complexion.  Will there be some sudden transformation and I'll wake up some morning looking completely different?   Or will there be a gradual change - some peculiar melanin metamorphosis?  If I sit in the sun without using Super Mega SPF 1000+ Sunblock, do I risk the spread of freckles to other parts?  There's nothing wrong with freckles, I just wasn't expecting a sudden sprouting - this will take some getting used to.

Of course when I called my Mom and told of my "new look" fits of giggles filled my ear.  I got off the phone and immediately cooked something Italian for supper.  Funny, a few years back I gave my folks a bumper sticker that read, Irish Temper, Italian Attitude.  It seems I should have bought one for myself.