Since moving to AZ I have discovered a few ground rules that I live, more like swear by. There are three basic rules I follow. I understand they are mostly common sense, but it is amazing how my Mainer instict or my Arizonia naivete overrides what I thought I knew. To anyone who visits, I recommend following these rules.
1.) Wear sunscreen - serious sunscreen. SPF 15 does NOT work, unless you put it on every five minutes but who could really afford going through that much sunscreen?! I got a sun burn walking to get a coffee from my office yesterday. It's a 10 minute walk round trip. My insanely pale, borderline translucent skin tone cannot handle the sun's intensity. So I have upped it to SPF 70. I think that should do. Whenever I remind myself to wear sunscreen, I think of the speech/song with Baz Luhrmann. If you are unfamiliar with it, please indulge in this clip of it below.
2.) Drink water - it's the desert, it's dry, hydrate! It seems obvious, but there have be many days over the past 8 months where I have gotten a headache because I have not had enough water. Sometimes it's hard to understand just how dry it is out here. The basic rules of eight cups of water a day is out the window here - I go through at least two bottles of water alone every time I workout. I always, always, always have water with me or at least something that can hold water. I have gotten over my germaphobic reaction to public water fountains because I rather contract some unusual disease than suffer severe dehydration - at least, that is how I currently feel; I'm sure if I end up with a unusual disease I will feel the exact opposite. Anyways, I have an irrational fear of being stranded "in the desert" without water during my commute from work to my apartment...those two location are only two miles apart, but my fear of not having water is constantly on my mind. So, always have water with you and make sure you drink it.
3.) Don't sit on metal benches - or just don't touch anything. My final rule is partially two rules in one. Avoid anything metal and just don't touch anything. I understand this is inevitable in some situations. I have lost balance on the bus or lightrail and grasp for the nearest pole to steady myself. I know that many children have licked it, and adults have picked their nose and sneezed all over it BUT I refuse to fall on my face in public. Instead, I make sure I always have hand sanitizer with me. But there are some situation where you can choose to avoid touching things like cacti, don't touch the spikes on them. And I've heard that those pretty pink flowers are poisonous too! Also, don't wear metal rimmed sunglasses because in triple digit temperatures they burn. Just like metal benches. Now, I do not know who's bright idea it was to put metal benches in a location where a good four months of the year are spent in triple digit temperatures, but they exist in abundance. So, don't sit on them.
And that sums up my rules for life in AZ.
Thanks for reading!
- M
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