The Calm And Serenity Of The Lake

Sunshine and temperature, 50 something. Little if any wind and the red camping chair parked right on the shore.

Enjoy the views.

The marina over there

You don't want to know

Rods are for effect

Wouldn't want one to think I was out here in this beautiful (it could have been a bit warmer) weather, sitting beside the lake, soaking Power Bait would I?

The rods next to the chair are just to make people think I'm fishing. Besides, I enjoyed the sunny weather for three hours without a single bite. Oh, oops. 

I'd like to take a minute of your time to talk about the sun and it's effects on your skin. I've been a sun  worshiper since I was nine years old. There were times in Florida my Mother would make me take a shower because I was so tan I looked dirty, even though I had just taken a shower. Here we are almost sixty years later and I've been awaiting the bad news that skin cancer has arrived. 

I went to the doctor several months ago to have him check all the moles for Melanoma, as I've done for years just to make sure. If it did show up, I didn't want to let it get out of hand. All was well, but we checked one on my forehead just in case. The test came back negative. 

While he was doing the check, he skimmed across one on the back of my right ear. In the pursuing months I tried to make it go away with things like Neosporin and Benzoyl Peroxide, but it hung on like a bad penny. 

A couple weeks ago I went back to him to have him look at it again and maybe get a perscription for something that would make it go away. He said it looked like Melanoma. I said, but you looked at it a couple months ago and passed it over. He said that a couple months ago it didn't look like Melanoma, but now it does. 

The biopsy came back positive and in February they are taking it off. My doctor said that I shouldn't worry because I can always get a set of those fake Spock ears to cover up the surgery. Actually the doctor doing the surgery does repair work at the same time if needed. 

My point here is that you need to cover up and/or use sunscreen. It took almost 60 years, but it finally caught up to me. Am I surprised? Not in the least based on how much time I spent in the sun over the years. The doctor told me that the main places Melanoma shows up is the top of your ears and your nose. Catch it early enough and it's a piece of cake, but don't let it go. So keep on top of your doctor and have him check you regularly.