Stories for 100 Days of Writing

A Freak of Nature? (Biographical)

I am what my daughter calls, a freak. In the midst of winter, I'm warm, in the midst of summer I'm so far past hot it's crazy. Now living in the UK this isn't always a problem because our temperatures don't rise above a level we can usually cope with. We don't usually need air con in our houses, we do in our cars and so life is usually comfortable enough for me.

This year a friend of mine invited me on holiday, to Tenerife, now for those of you not familiar with the wonderful Canary Islands, they are set alongside the African Coast. Tenerife produces its own microclimate, which can only be described as 'hot'. It can be cloudy which brings the temperatures down a little but the sun still burns through the clouds so do not be deceived.

So, off I go to Tenerife, along with fifty plus sun cream and antihistamine cream, not for bug bites, but for the sun to which I'm apparently allergic, something I found out a while ago when I first went abroad.

I have to say, I love Tenerife, Mount Teide has to be one of my favourite places, but the heat is just out of this world and I'm in no doubt that if you go in August it gets hotter. We went at the end of June, returning at the start of July; temperatures hit about thirty degrees at its hottest.

The first day there, there was no doubt that the allergy I have was still present. I covered my legs and feet in antihistamine and sun cream and then exposed them to the sun albeit, a cloudy day, the result, purple legs, yes once again I was going to look like Barney the Dinosaur. My only course was to cover up, so as everyone else was stripped off in swimsuits and bikinis, I'm in t-shirts, trousers and socks. I get the strangest looks, I have to say, but really, that's better than going home looking like the purple people eater. It means that a trip to the room after lunch was called for, as it was much too hot for me outside, however, sitting on the sunbed, often under an umbrella, I still managed to read six books and was halfway through the seventh when I returned home, to much better temperatures in my books. I'm not sure everyone would agree with me somehow. Despite my argument with the sun, I enjoyed my time there immensely and intend on returning.