Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The Dark Side of Sunlight

At the bottom of the slide...

There is nothing more effervescent than springtime sunshine across the tundra!

With daylight hours stretching well beyond ten o'clock in recent days, children of all ages find making hay much more appealing than hitting it.

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In other words, there's no time like springtime for staying out late and soaking up rays...even if it drives your parents and teachers crazy!

Cool ride...

Yet, however strange it might sound, all that sunshine does have a dark side.

While it splashes itself across the seamless white tundra and packs a visual wallop that demands protective eyewear, sunlight (this time of year) doesn't actually carry that much warmth.

It slyly disguises still-frigid temperatures with its flashy smile and those who are fooled by its brightness often pay a hefty price.



It's still cold.

And no one knows that better than this fifteen-year-old girl who made the mistake of riding a skidoo wearing only warm-up pants instead of insulated snow pants.

Her frostbite wound was painful at first, but is healing well.

Lesson learned...I hope.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ouch, looks like it turns into cellulitis!!! tammy

Anonymous said...

She was still lucky - but it's a lesson one had better learn the first time!

Novice Naturalist said...

It always LOOKS so warm outside this time of year. But it not, as we know. Glad to hear that the injury in healing well. Lovely photos. Makes me even more homesick for the slope than I already was today. Jay

Kimberlee said...

Tammy...
I think it's going to heal pretty well. She received medical treatment right away.


Trudie...
Absolutely! As I took the picture of her leg, she said something like, "You can tell them that this is what a fifteen year old girl did when she wasn't careful." I think she knows better now. :)


Jay...
Yes, it certainly DOES look warm and NO, it certainly isn't. We've had lots of snow this week and the wind is blowing hard today. When will you be back among the frosty faces again?