Today is an interesting day in the life of this accomplished author. We had a chance to visit Quenca today. We would have to pay for gas and the trip was for the weekend. Problem is we would need to pay a portion of the hotel bill, buy food, pay for gas, and all of this to visit a place we have already visited several times. Gas is 2.50 per gallon for regular here in Ecuador. We chose to opt out, and I am happy simply remaining here inside our community facility.

We awoke this morning around 0630, as usual. My wife ate a cheese sandwich and I had a bowl of oats. We made coffee and sat on the front porch in our underwear. It felt so good with the wind blowing. I honestly don’t think the people passing by even recognized that I was sitting around in my drawers. I honestly don’t care if they did. What can they do about it? It felt good so why should we not do it?

Around 0930 we gathered up our computers and walked out toward the administration building. We are presently sitting around the pool typing on the computers. My wife took a quick dip, but I will not until the sun goes down around 1800, since the sun kills me when I pull my shirt off. I had my past experiences with second degree burns from the sun back when I was twelve. I will never forget the terrible experience.

Back in that time my grandfather and my great uncle were big time tobacco farmers. My grandfather owned 3 tobacco plantations. My great uncle owned one and several rental properties. I was required to help put this tobacco in during the summer months. I had older friends, and one was named Stacy who had his driver licence. He wanted to venture out early one Saturday for some fun at a local lake, made up in resemblance to a beach area. A bunch of friends were going to be there, including some very popular and attractive girls and very young women. An underlying possibility for some new adventure in pleasures of the flesh really excited all of us boys at the time, although it was more in all our minds than in fact. None of us could wait, but Pap agreed, informing me however, that if I got sun cooked while out, I still would be required to work come Monday.

Well, we all motored out, went down to the lake cottage around 0900, and a decent crowd was there, to say the least. Maybe there were twenty of us in all, ages 12 to 19. All of the girls and young ladies looked fine in their thin swim suits, we all thought at the time. All of us began playing underwater tag, broke out the grill, stole a few kisses which really made our day, and come 1800 hours, I forgot all about the sun. When we settled down for the evening back in the cottage, I could feel the heat radiating from my skin all over. When I took my shower back at the cottage, I knew I had messed up badly. By the time I made it back home around 2000 hours that day, blisters were already forming all over my shoulders, neck, and back.

Come Monday I was in utter misery, but my horror was only commencing. I had to trudge rows on foot, cropping tobacco. At the end of the row I hopped back on the tractor pulling the trailer, and rode it back to the kerosene stick barn to help hang the tobacco after we strung it up on the sticks. The worst sticks for me to hang were the final three or four when the rafter sections were filled inside the old wooden stick barns. I had to fall backwards up against the rough wood to fit these into place. My sun cooked back covered in blisters was already irritated from the heavy sweating, the heat from being out in the fields, and the tobacco gun oozing down in my sweat. When this rubbed against the splinters and rough wood, the pain was almost unbearable.

It took a full week to end. The misery ended when the itching began, but I preferred the itching to the pain by far. In the end the lesson I learned was that I was still responsible for fulfilling my assigned duties, not matter what, come what may. I also have never been sun cooked again, since I learned to take care. Today I am much older than 12, and still haven’t forgotten the lessons I learned on that day in my life so many years ago.