Being Fair

I got a whopper of a bruise last week while I was vacuuming. Somehow, I stepped on the cord and the handle smacked me in the center of my thigh. I knew instantly that it would be a nasty one, and since I seem to bruise easily anyway, an average bump can look like I've been in a car accident or something.

This morning I got up and felt thankful that it's not shorts weather yet. My bruise has blossomed...literally. It looks like I have a large purple pansy on my leg...the yellow accents are even in the right places.

I've been told that faired skinned people like me bruise easily, and of course, bruises stand out vividly on my glow-in-the-dark complexion. Being pale seems to be a genetic kick in the pants. Fair skinned people get freckles instead of tan in the summer, and later in life are more at risk for skin cancer. When I go shopping for clothes, choosing a pastel color is out of the question because pink or baby blue only accentuates my veins.

If I was a pioneer woman, my lily-white skin would make me the envy of all the women east or west of the Mississippi. I'd be the hottest thing wearing a bonnet! But life in this century gives me the stuff in a tube that dyes my skin with a "daily glow" when shorts weather comes around.

Yesterday I bought a fresh tube of that wonderful stuff, and I'll start slathering it on. It won't disguise the pansy, but it may get me ready to put on a pair of shorts when summer comes.