The UV Blues

Sunny days are here and somewhere a catfish is surely jumping. (Do catfish jump? I’ve never seen one. Have you?) The sun shines down with the light that energizes those of us who are winter challenged. It is tempting to go find a blanket, a grassy field, a cold potation, something with which to crank out the tunes, and zone out.

The strange thing is, we have been so effectively warned, now, against just this activity that our medical colleagues are reporting an increase in conditions caused by a lack of Vitamin D. Some folks need to get more sun.

But, as we know, too much sunlight leads to other problems, beginning with sunburn and working up to skin cancer, and worse. These problems are caused mainly by UV, or UltraViolet, light.

Yikes. What’s a poor winter challenged person to do?

Lovely old moderation is the first line to take. Not too much sun, not too much indoors, just enough of each. If you intend to be in the sun for long periods, wear sun block and/or sun protective clothing. And a nice big floppy hat.

And when the winter comes, as surely as the day follows the night, be sure that the appliance you use to simulate your sun dose, a BioBrite Deluxe Lite Visor, for instance, emits UV free light. (It does.)

An interesting fact about UV light is that some animals, including birds, can see in the UV spectrum, (which humans cannot) and some birds have plumage patterns that can be seen only in the UV spectrum. So to humans, they all look the same, but not to each other. I wonder if we look the same to them?