Farsighted Fly Girl

Quebec's Gaspe' Peninsula exudes quintessential Quebecois spirit with lots of French-flavored traditions. I spotted this clown on a sunny afternoon at the harbor of the tiny village of Perce'.  Equipped with accordion, stylish hat and shades, she doesn't look like any clown you'd see in the U.S. She crooned French children's songs as kids scurried around, blowing bubbles and playing with balloons.   With the sun playing off the bright blue waves of the sea and a crisp breeze floating over the shore, it felt like a typical cheery day in this charming maritime province.

I love the sun. You will never hear me complain about too much sun or too much heat. I have never met a beach or tropical spot that I didn't love. As I write this, the sun has beamed 95 sweltering degrees onto Chicago and I am heading out to soak it up. Don't get me wrong, I always protect my skin with sunscreen and usually a wide-brimmed hat but always, always, sunglasses. I wear sunglasses year round and wherever I travel because my eyes are sensitive to light. It never occurred to me that I was actually protecting my eyes from damaging UV rays until I recently attended an informative webinar organized by The Vision Council . It turns out that your eyes can get sunburned just as easily as your skin and  wrinkles around the eyes, cataracts and cancer of the eye are all connected to UV eye exposure. Since I specialize in traveling to sun-drenched locations, I thought it would make sense to learn important UV blocking tips for the eyes. According to The Vision Council's...