10-14-2022, 08:14 AM
(10-13-2022, 09:49 PM)Pete Wrote: I kid around a lot, I know, but seriously, if you do decide to visit anywhere in Florida, go in the winter and still be very careful about any unprotected tie outdoors. Fair skin folks can get a 2nd degree sunburn in an hour by lying out on the beach WITH sun screen applied.
Pah! Florida and California give tiny little sunburns. If you want to get a REAL burn, come to Virginia and enjoy a nice nap in the shade of our Giant Hogsweed plants. The sap has 2 nice little properties to it: Step 1, it works as a mild anesthetic to lightly numb the skin. Step 2, it works as a UV blocker-blocker... You lose all protection from the sun's rays and in less than an hour can be facing 3rd degree burns with blisters that cook all the way down to the bones.
Dangerous Giant Hogweed burn - Bing images <-- some of these images aren't for the squeamish of heart! Be forewarned!
And absolute bestest part of these stupid plants? They look almost exactly like Giant Cow Parsley, which has been around forever and ever here in Virginia. Most people will completely ignore these newly invasive plants, simply thinking they're the same old harmless plants which we'd had around forever. You'll walk in the woods, trail, or field, come back to your car an hour later, and then have to be hospitalized before your skin falls off your body where it's been cooked.
Florida turns you red and might give you a few blisters to deal with. Virginia? We try and murderize your arse up here anymore!