Coming from someone who was often times called Casper by her classmates growing up, I'd have to say summer isn't my favorite time of year. While most girls are laying out by the pool soaking up the rays coming down I was busy hiding my skin from becoming the shade of a ripe tomato. No amount of sunscreen would keep my skin from burning no matter how often I put it on. I tried the "small but often exposures" to get my skin use to sun but it never worked. Tanning beds weren't even an option after all of the horror stories I had heard. And spray tans? Yeah no thanks I'll avoid those streaks.
Fall is the best time of year even while living in Florida. As soon as the temperature drops below 75 degrees even for a minute, girls everywhere break out the cardigans, boots, scarves and dark polishes and lipsticks make an appearance everyday. There is nothing better than ordering that steaming hot Starbucks drink while strutting across campus in your adorable fall wardrobe. By noon it's back to 90 degrees and a couple of layers have been pealed off but it's okay because fall is coming. For someone as pale as I am fall is a blessing. It's an excuse to not go lay out because it's "getting too cold out". Girls' tans start to fade and the sharp contrast between my skin and theirs begins to disappear. I stop hearing the "you're so pale" comments by those who don't undergo the same struggle on a daily basis during the summer months. Another reason fall is the best is the new and valid reasons to wear pants on a daily basis. I get cold everywhere I go so having the ability to wear pants and a sweater keeps me warm without looking like I've gone crazy in the 90 degree heat.
Fall in Florida lasts only a couple of months before the temperatures spike back to 80 degrees by 10 am. I'm determined to make those couple of months the best they can be before I'm back to wearing shorts and doing my best not to notice the similarities in color that my skin shares with the near by wall.
Happy fall to my fellow Floridians and pale friends!
