I have a pharmacy in my bathroom of cremes, lotions, and antihistamines. I am adding to its selection weekly to no avail. My arms still itch, making me scratch nonstop and turn into a royal bitch.

I have a history of sunburns starting in my youth when baby oil and iodine were the suntan lotions of most teenage girls. I added layers of the stuff throughout the afternoon, ending up as red as a lobster by evening. Once it was so bad that I couldn’t wear underwear to school, hiding my blistering body under a maxi halter and sitting down at my desk in a delicate matter.

I thought I learned my lesson years later and switched to other tanning oils and lotions that unfortunately did the same number on my skin. A Ph level wasn’t on my mind.

As time went on, I occasionally used more protective sunscreens but was/am still happiest on a sunny, warm day.

I am fair-skinned. And middle-aged, with a history of those sunburns and living in sunny climate Mexico. The perfect storm. Or so they say. Continue Reading…

It is Christmas time and in this crazy, whacked-out year of 2020, many are thinking about their place in the world, their beliefs, and their god.

My parents raised me Catholic, I went to Sunday school, first communion, and confirmation. And then I stopped.

I have never been religious, but I have definitely felt connected to something bigger than I am. I kind of have to, being such a small part of everything. I have reigned in my Bipolar disorder and no longer feel I am the anointed one. But more often than not now, I feel a spiritual connection to that which surrounds me.

I have felt it in the great outdoors, in the cathedrals of Europe, at the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids of Giza, and settling in at the beach with a good book on a summer’s day. Continue Reading…