When I was a towheaded kid, we didn't worry about excessive sun exposure. Baby oil was applied when at the beach. Of course, Sunapee NH's Dewey Beach is at 43.3875° N latitude and it was only open for a few months a year. Yet, no one used a sunscreen much less a sunblock as they had yet to be invented. Bottles at the drug store were sold as sun-tan lotion.
In the last 30 years we've all been taught the dangers of the sun. It's sort of like common knowledge that when we step outside we are sending an invitation to skin cancer. I have even taken to using SFP 50 in Vancouver which generally has a UV index of around -12! Of course Mel, or melanoma, is not someone I'd like to meet personally. It just seems so unfair to have to be cautious nowadays. Even when I worked in Saudi Arabia in the mid-1980's, we used to lie around the pool on weekends. After burning and peeling at the start of the year, I could settle in to quite an eventual tan.
Moreover, I actually love taking a nap in the sun. I am going to end 20 years of being pale and pasty. As the beach is just ten minutes from my front steps, I have gone to the beach for the last three days in a row. I have learned to just take two towels and a little bottle of water. I leave my money in the apartment. I have taught myself to be without my phone for an hour and a half at a time. (Unfortunately, this means I have no new pictures.) I don't even carry an ID or keys with me.
Today, I ran into the surf as soon as I got there and then settled down on the bigger of the towels with the other as a pillow. It felt so good.
This is the closest area near the lifeguard chair.