“Serving overseas as a small-town boy from America is intense, stressful and humorous! Enjoy a light-hearted story with me from our last 20 years overseas!”
—Matt
Red & White
Remember ever getting tingling, painful sunburn on your neck or back? I remember those years in Indiana where it seemed like spring weather would never come and then it arrived. Inevitably it meant an “early season sunburn” in the era before anyone used sunblock. Eventually the skin adapted and turned into a tan of some kind.
Living overseas in a place that has summer and spring weather all-year-round, we get tourists from many sun-deprived places in Europe. We can have UV indexes of 11 and up all year. When going to our airport, we look at briskly arriving tourists who are stark snow-white. We then walk to the other end of the airport where the departing passengers are gingerly walking with pink and red sunburned legs and arms.
One summer our sons got to experience quite a sunburn. We had a two-day boat journey and the seas were very rough. I slumped off to my bed to try to sleep my way through the rough seas. My sons felt they could better handle the waves by being outside on the main deck, and I agreed in a half-conscious state of nausea. Periodically they would return back to our cabin to see how I was doing and then head back outside over the two days.
On arrival to the port after two days, I noticed the backs of my sons’ necks and heads – very seriously sunburnt. The cool sea breezes deceived us into forgetting about the intense sunrays. Had there been a hospital nearby, we would have made a visit, but it wasn’t an option. We were now ready to start a month of travel with much time outside and their oozing and damaged skin would need to be covered for weeks to be able to heal. We found a surplus store that sold hats with long built-in bandanas that stretched around the sides and back. Caps of that style were not common back then for those not trekking across the Sahara. The hats did not meet the boys’ fashion standards, but there was no other option. They wore those desert caps every time they were outside for the rest of the trip.
To this day, when we pull out photos from that summer (with them wearing their desert hats), the boys still roll their eyes and remind me of allowing them to spend two full days out on the boat’s main deck.
Something similar ever happen to you? Contact me and let me hear your story!
mattsmishaps@gmail.com Matt’s Mishaps, PO BOX 114, Grabill, IN 46741
