Through a Naturist Lens

Building one’s own shed from scratch without buying a prepackaged set of cut lumber, and without a step-by-step plan is a daunting project. Add the fact that I am seventy years old and have spent my lifetime engaged as an educator and mental-health counsellor, one could well understand how this project gets to proceed as slowly as it does. Of course, I planned, and planned, and planned a third time, drawing diagrams freehand to try and envision the final product….

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Well, it’s Sunday afternoon and some filtered sunshine is making it through a thin cloud cover. Every once in a while a break in the cloud cover teases as the sun pours in through the large picture windows of my home. We went out earlier for a six kilometre walk even though the wind blowing between 30 and 40 kilometres per hour. We live on the prairies and wind is an almost perpetual condition of existence. You either go crazy…

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I got a haircut this morning and I now feel I look the way I see myself – neither scalped nor shaggy. Once that was done and we had our morning walk, my task was to finish making a step stool of sorts for my youngest grandchild. The wood was cut, holes were drilled and the whole assembly was put together before it was time to have lunch. This afternoon it is being painted by my wife. The finished product…

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Some days are more frustrating than others, and then there is that moment when the universe sends you a message so that you come back to your senses. For myself, and in my opinion, frustration to life is a personal response, not necessarily a conscious response. And to be honest, it is rarely a conscious response. I am a laid back person and what frustrates my wife or others, typically doesn’t frustrate me. I don’t for a moment discount the…

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Like many other places in Canada and northern USA, we are again getting snow. It is the soft, fluffy kind of snow that will quickly disappear in a matter of hours when the sky clears. Like almost everyone else on the planet, I am wanting this whole Covid19 mess to be over. However, I am not about to push any boundaries with regards to closing social distancing for the next while. At my age, being prudent comes with the territory…

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The sun is out. The temperature is still below zero, but with the backyard protected from a southern breeze, I actually enjoyed a few moments in the yard. There is a promise for above zero temperatures in the afternoon which should make for a pleasant afternoon of drinking tea au naturel on the back deck … as long as there is sunshine and the wind doesn’t become a factor. I can’t believe just how good it feels to be outside in my…

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I’ve just come back from our first walk in the countryside since our return to Canada on March 29th. Unlike during a walk in Ecuador, I never did manage to feel warm even though the walking pace was good and brisk. In Ecuador, I wore only a tan-through Kiniki bathing suit, mini briefs. And at times when the conditions were right, nothing at all. Here on the prairies, I wore two layers of pants including wind pants, three layers on…

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This morning, I woke up to clear skies. With dawn, the sun made an appearance and promised a sunny day. Mid-way through the morning, everything had changed and it began to snow. This is normal for the Canadian prairies. The only certitude is that the world, the weather, and life is dynamic and volatile. With the wind now up, I have decided to stay indoors after a short time outdoors. While outdoors, I managed to cut a piece of wood…

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This morning, I woke up to clear skies. With dawn, the sun made an appearance and promised a sunny day. Mid-way through the morning, everything had changed and it began to snow. This is normal for the Canadian prairies. The only certitude is that the world, the weather, and life is dynamic and volatile. With the wind now up, I have decided to stay indoors after a short time outdoors. While outdoors, I managed to cut a piece of wood…

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Writing is almost exhausting work at times. Since I am now involved in a number of projects, I find myself needing to just sit back a bit to recoup a bit of energy before moving on to yet another writing task. Unfortunately, like too many others, I find myself slipping into a trance of silence. Looking out the windows of my home, that silence is magnified with empty streets with only a rare half ton truck causing ripples in the…

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