Sun-baked brains

I don't feel pain in my side, like the Vikings' Nate
Gibfried did after being hit by a pitch last Thursday
against Desert Oasis. I feel it in my head--
scrambled brains. (Photo by Ed Piper)

This is my therapy. I freely admit it. I was embarrassed until a couple of weeks ago to tell anyone associated with the La Jolla High baseball program that, for years, I have limited my time at games due to the effects the direct sun has on my head.

I often went home from games in previous years (in other sports, as well) with a headache and feeling generally unwell if I spent more than a short time in the sun taking photos and/or covering the game for my blog or one of the local newspapers.

But I never saw or heard anyone else complain of headaches or nausea or any other ill effect from exposure to the direct sun, so--like I said--I felt embarrassed and kept it to myself and my wife.

Finally, a couple of weeks ago, determined to pursue my interest in learning more about the "inner game" of baseball beyond just spending a few innings watching games, after attending Major League games at Spring Training in Arizona March 6-7, I looked into bringing a large umbrella to shield myself at LJHS games.

This way, I figured, I could stay at games longer, and score more innings, and, conceivably, take more photos of the games. Plus I could take more time to learn more about the game of baseball than I already know, from having played it for 10 years when I was young and taking photos of LJHS baseball the past decade without really studying it.

One member of the LJHS baseball family suggested wearing a hat with a wider brim. I have what I call a lifeguard hat, made of straw, that I bought years ago to attend the air show at Miramar. But straw hats make my head itch, and the hat never became a solution for the sun issue.

Someone else (one of the Vikings' assistant coaches) said Costco sells big umbrellas that can be screwed into the dirt (or sand at the beach) to stand up and provide shade.

I was picturing carrying all of this, in addition to rolling my wheeled camera case, from my car to the field at Muirlands Middle School. I didn't know how practical that would be. Did I really want to make it that big of a production?

But at least these queries got me talking to others about my headaches from being in the sun at games.

What provided a little respite were the four Lions Tournament games the Vikings, who made it to the tournament semifinals, played all at 12 o'clock noon over the four days of the competition. At Country Day on the first day, that meant shade the whole game at the door of the dugout. At Muirlands on days two and three, the earlier starting time meant shade was available if I stayed at the doorway of the tiny equipment room in the Vikings' dugout. (Usually, at games that start at 3:30 p.m., the sun is already beating down from the west, and the equipment room isn't an option.) On day four, the Vikings occupied the dugout on the first base line at Cathedral Catholic High--the overhang providing shade from the midday sun.

This intense time at the Vikings' games all through the tournament enabled me to score each game in detail, listen and observe what went on throughout the games, and as a result write more intelligent and informed game stories, including play-by-play (with better photos than I would have taken otherwise) for my blog.

Prior to the tournament, when I was looking into umbrellas, I Googled the sun problem. I was amazed and comforted to find that other people suffer from the same issue. However, their symptoms are different. One wife said her husband is nauseous after five minutes in the direct sun. After 10 to 20 minutes, he is sick and pretty much has to go to the Emergency Room. I was amazed. I had never heard of others having such problems. But the important thing was that I didn't feel embarrassed as the only one slinking away at games.

Significantly, I mentioned the issue to our cleaning lady. She is super active in going to her eighth-grade son's outdoor sporting events, including football and baseball. She told me she has gotten nosebleeds from being in the sun ever since she was a child! I had never heard of such a thing. She has to plan ahead, and she takes a special diet of fruit and other things to keep her hydrated and feeling better when she goes to his games.

She told me about one baseball facility that has an air-conditioned room next to the field that allows you to pay a $5 entrance fee to sit inside during the game. I know I keep repeating it, but I had never heard of this. It was comforting to know others who love sports and want to go to games struggle with the same thing I do.

Here's to all of us who want to spend entire games watching the Vikings in baseball (and other outdoor sports), who appreciate the opportunity even more because we have to plan in advance, take a hat and other items, and decide--at least in my case--how long we want to stay out because that will directly determine how much we have to pay for the experience afterwards: headaches, and often a difficult time sleeping and tiredness the next day, as if we had been through a difficult experience and had health problems (which, in a way, we do).

If I have a demanding task to do the next day, like teach a special lesson in my classroom or present a talk at church, I have to weigh the effects staying at a game the day before will have on my performance. Because often a longer stay in the sun renders me with "dead head", just being slower, and more tired, making it harder to think clearly and slowing down my speech. Now, that is embarrassing. I think that others think I'm dumb when this happens!

As a nurse practitioner friend told me when I informed her of my susceptibility to sun problems, I may have an allergic reaction to sun exposure.

Feeling better already, Ed Piper


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper