My Yearly Sunburn

I was born fortunate to have a dark complexion that did not burn easily. I am still like that. But each spring I would get a sunburn. During the winter I wore shirts with collars. At some point each spring – and I do not know the trigger – Mom would change me over to a t-shirt. The next day I would have a sunburn. As I walked the mile and a quarter westward to school in the morning and eastward in the evening the sun would beat on the newly exposed skin. I think it was only in my eighth year of school that I realized what was happening.