I bought a brand new bottle of SPF 30 sunscreen on my way to the company picnic today and applied it carefully.

For most of the picnic, we were under a shelter, but later on several of us went over to the outdoor pool at the park complex.

My sunscreen was supposed to be “very water resistant,” and I felt the lotion on my skin even when I was in the pool.

I really hadn’t felt sore, but just now when I was in the bathroom I caught a glimpse of my head and shoulders in the mirror, and I’m quite red. I don’t know whether the sunscreen had been on the store shelf too long and had lost its effectiveness (which I understand happens), or whether just enough of it came off in the pool to allow me to get some sun. Maybe a little of both.