the marks of summer

Bruises
Bites
Cuts
Scrapes
Sunburns

Those are the marks of summer. If you don't know what I'm talking about, did you grow up living under a rock (in which case, how did you not get the first three)? These are probably the marks of childhood too, but in my case as an adult, these are still the marks of summer.

Bruises. I get a lot of bruises. I bump into things constantly. Bruises are common. Last week, at Michigan's Adventure with Skylar, the first roller coaster we rode was the Corkscrew. Getting into it I immediately slammed my leg into the "door" of the car. It was my shin. Instant pain, followed by a bruise. The bruise wasn't too bad, since it was my bone and not muscle. But boy, did it hurt.

Bites. As in mosquito bites. If you read my blog from last night, you'll know I spent time out in my garden. I sprayed the bug repellent on my legs and arms. Those pesky buggers still got me. Then, this morning when I woke up, I scratched my back. Oops. That's a bug bite. Thankfully, taking an allergy pill helps!

Cuts. Yup. I've had my share of those this summer too. Here's a picture I took of one of my cuts (it's not gross).

I took the picture because it looks like the Gilda's Club logo for Laugh-Fest. If you aren't from GR and have no idea what I'm talking about, go to the link. It has the logo right there. And, no my cut isn't exactly like it, but it's close enough. And I have no idea what caused this cut. My guess is a cat, but I really have no idea. Which leads to...

Scrapes. I don't scrape myself as much as I used to. Largely in part because I no longer own a bicycle or roller blades. Occasionally I still scrape a knuckle or two and that has definitely happened this summer.

Sunburns. My most frequent offense. This summer I have carried a bottle of sunblock with me. The only day I didn't use it was at Michigan's Adventure because it was mostly cloudy. The clouds opened up during our long wait in the line for Shivering Timbers and Wolverine Wildcat. So I got a little bit of sun, but not a burn.

I shouldn't forget grass stains either. Read Bill's blog post (the very end). So he mowed in his bare feet. After we had taken our walk and passed a man who was doing the exact same thing and Bill had a minor rant about mowing the lawn in bare feet. But, to Bill's credit, he went and washed his feet before tracking grass through the house. I had to laugh later when I was brushing my teeth and saw the evidence of the foot washing on his towel. The nice white towel had grass stains.

Those are the marks of summer.