One of my biggest struggles in the year since we moved from Hawaii to to the mainland is knowing when to put on sunscreen.

In Hawaii it was super easy- every day. All the time. No excuses.

Back on the east coast there is a sunscreen season. Namely, summer. But when does sunscreen season actually start?

Turns out, this weekend.

Yup, I went to part of the Cherry Blossom Festival (Sakura Matsuri) and came home with a nose like Rudolph’s (thanks, Kevin!) and the complexion of a tomato. Luckily I was wearing long sleeves and jeans. It could have been worse.

And while we were still in Hawaii we visited family back on the mainland and I got sun poisoning on a cloudy day and spent the evening miserable. But on the island I was diligent and never burned.

Possibly the weirdest part of this whole thing is that I grew up in Virgina. So it’s not like I’m not used to sunscreen season. But living near the equator clearly spoiled me for thinking critically about the seasons.