Through a Naturist Lens

When I woke up this morning, the sky was clear. The temperature was 7 Celsius but there was promise of more warmth, at least 22 by early afternoon. At 10:30, I found myself hiking for six and a half kilometres while fully nude. It wasn’t long before I scared up a covey of prairie grouse, a bird commonly known as prairie chickens. Then, I just about stepped on a large jackrabbit who decided to make a break for it in case I was hungry for rabbit stew.

Of course, the only interest I had in wildlife was in witnessing their presence. I didn’t even try to get photos of them. I focused on the walk, the sunshine, and the delicious warmth. The forecast for tomorrow is for even warmer temperatures before again turning cold for the weekend.

Sometime between now and Sunday evening, I have a blog post to write up for Naturist Fiction. My turn has once again rolled around. I feel privileged to have been invited to be part of the three naturist writers for this blog site. My comrades in arms are Will Forest and Paul Z Walker, two excellent writers of naturist fiction, as well as other forms of fiction and non-fiction. In my other moments of free time, I will be adding to my new story.

How is your day unfolding?

It froze last night, a hard frost. It isn’t the first frost of the late summer, as we had a slight touch of frost a few weeks ago. However, this frost required us to cover most of our garden plants in an attempt to save them, especially the tomato plants. They were saved, thought they don’t look so good. There is no frost in the forecast for the next two weeks, but forecasts are not all that dependable. With this pointed reminder from Mother Nature, it is definitely time to shift one’s thinking from summer to autumn. There will be nice days to come in the near future, but they are fleeting moments of protest against the inevitable onslaught of a prairie winter.

Continuing on from yesterday’s post, the camping trailer has been sold. It took about 36 hours from mounting the advertisement to depositing the funds from the sale. There is no turning back to the past as it was anymore. By this afternoon, the sun came out and the temperature climbed up to an impressive 15 Celsius, enough to warrant spending a bit of time on the deck in the backyard to soak up some sunshine.

Tomorrow, it is a trip to the city for supplies and an oil change. It has been more than a month since our last trip to the city. I imagine it will be quite some time following tomorrow’s trip until our next such trip. There isn’t much ambition to risk spending time in a city where the risk of contacting the corona virus is significantly higher than our tiny prairie town.

On a side note, I thought I had a serious computer crash and had dug out my older computer which I had switched from Windows to Linux so that I could continue my various writing projects. Thankfully, I had backed up just about everything, Then this morning, I re-approached the salvaging of my newer laptop with the help of a techie. The results were a resounding success. The exercise left me with a sense of gratitude, both for the saving of the laptop and the realisation that if worse had come to worst, I would have lost very little in the process.

Do you save all of your files and data to an external hard-drive or to the cloud in one of its many variations? I use a variety of external sources, including the Google version of the cloud – external hard drive and a large USB flash drive. As a writer, this is a critical habit to make.

A final note: The camper is sold and gone.

This pandemic is resulting in the world changing faster than what we would normally experience. For my wife and myself, the inability to travel to the USA to visit our middle child and her family is one change that has us experiencing lost time with our growing grandsons who live there. Even closer to home, our relationship with our neighbours have been altered.

Normally, we hug when we get together with our neighbours of the past eighteen years. Since all of us are now seniors, we have listened to the advice for safe distancing which translates to no hugging. We still gather together for outdoor barbeques or sunny afternoons for wine and good company, but we keep a distance. Perhaps it is our age, but no one is willing to risk being the cause of passing on the Covid-19 virus.

Another change has been the reluctance to head out to my local [four hours distant] naturist campgrounds to be with naturist friends who either visit there, or live there full-time. The unknown in terms of where they may have been or whom they may have come into contact with left me unwilling to risk visiting, especially since my wife could be at risk through my extended contact with others.

This makes the second year in a row where I haven’t used my small camping trailer as a part-time residence at the naturist site. For a naturist, the freedom at being in such a setting is indescribable. Outside of naturist sites, nudity is very, very limited to time and place. So, in real terms, this is a real loss.

Aside from the pandemic, just getting older is a big enough change. We both are now in our seventies and though we are both very fit and active, the change is noticeable, especially in terms of our psychology. Being home more than in the past, we have found a pleasant rhythm in our life and are enjoying a quieter life at home.

Visiting our eldest daughter at her seasonal camping site in a provincial park was pleasant enough, but the noise from passing traffic and nearby campsites taught us that our backyard was much more in tune with nature. The allure to go camping retreated, at least the idea of camping as a getaway from the hurlyburly of normal life. Besides, neither of us enjoy the stress of travelling down highways pulling a camping trailer any more.

As a result, we decided it was a good time to sell our small trailer. The market for campers and trailers is better than it has been for some time because the pandemic is keeping most people from extensive travel out-of-country.And so, yesterday, late afternoon, I created an online ad to sell our trailer. T

here will be a empty space in the normal picture of our driveway if and when the camper gets sold. Will it be a loss? Yes, and curiously, no. As with all changes, it forces us to open up new doors. One thing for certain, just making the decision has changed our lives.

What recent losses have forced you to change in order to fit into your new reality? What decisions have you made that will open up different doors?

Well, this new version of the blog site hasn’t been up long and I am pleased with the number of visitors received to date. There was one exception which had me question the “stats”. Yesterday, I had an “extra” three hundred visits. Along with the visits was a comment that needed approval which led me to believe that the extra visitors were seekers of porn. Needless to say, the comment was directed to the spam bin. Today, the visits are back to the normal range for a site that is ten days old. LOL!

Today, I got to once again spend some time in the lounger, soaking up sun. Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to drop from today’s high of 28 Celsius to only 11 Celsius. I can guarantee that there will be no sunbathing tomorrow. With today likely being the last “warm” day of the year/season, I have been busy with a few chores such as doing some trimming of bushes.

Some I can do while nude, while the others in the front of the house require that I put on a pair of shorts. Not too distant from where I live, there is the threat of snow in the next two days. I doubt that we will get the snow, and that is good as I’m not ready for snow. There is too much garden yet to harvest and it still is officially summer for another two weeks.

It’s one of those tumultuous days as far as weather is concerned. Rain, wind, clouds, spotty breaks with the sun peeking through, and cool temperatures. While walking with my wife yesterday before our evening meal, I mentioned that I was shelving a story I had been trying desperately hard to edit into a decent novel. I was frustrated beyond belief as the story itself is a good one.

It just isn’t the right time for me to work on it. Naturally, that causes an internal disquiet. And of course, that also has its own echoes upon the body. An hour and a half of massage [I had booked the appointment two weeks earlier] and I am now right as rain. My masseuse has no issue with me being nude and undraped during the massage which makes for a better massage experience.

The novel which I am now going to focus upon is what I call a space opera for now. I began the story in early April as a serialised audio story for my grandchildren who range in ages from 24 to 10 years of age. The six of them [there are two younger grandchildren] were characters in the story. After five instalments, the project came to an end. Five thousand words were written and apparently were enjoyed. Yet, with all of our lives being tossed upon the waves of Covid19, holding to that project was too difficult for all of us.

As for the story itself had reached 5,000+ words, and I like the premise of the story, I have decided to re-approach the story as a novel that is geared to a larger audience. I am unsure if the story will become naturist fiction or not. Since I typically fly by the seat of my pants while writing, there is much that I will be discovering along the way, including answering that question. One thing I know for sure, I am not ready to work on the second novel of the Celtic Tree of Life series.

Adding to my sense of being in a topsy-turvy world, are the issues surrounding the return to school for children in North America. I have grandchildren in both Canada and the USA who have begun a new school year. Will they be safe? Will the teachers be safe? Will the schools find themselves closing again? I finished my career in education as the principal of a school. I can’t imagine how I would cope with so much uncertainty. Thankfully, I am retired and have my writing to turn to, work that draws me inward, away from the pandemic that is changing everything we know about the world.

Where do you find your safe sanctuary?

It’s another very windy day with the sun shining. The wind is out of the northwest meaning that it feels colder than what the thermometer tells me. Our morning walk will still happen, likely just before noon hour. Yesterday’s canning corn went relatively well with just a few bumps along the way. Today’s attempt should be smoother now that we know what we are doing. Four dozen corn were done yesterday with another three dozen remaining for today.

Yesterday, once I had finished taking the kernels off the cobs, I took some time to do some sunbathing in our backyard, something that I do when there isn’t enough time for a country free-hike activity and the weather is cooperative. While I was laying there, on my stomach, a neighbour appeared in my yard. Since she has seen me nude on many occasions in the past, I didn’t respond with covering up.

She continued on to our house to speak with my wife. The same woman had appeared in my house the day before to get a few emails printed while I was preparing my breakfast, while I was at home alone. She got to see me full frontal as I made no effort to cover up my nudity and made no comment. It actually has been quite some time since she last saw me nude. Of course, it all makes me wonder. On one hand, I would think that my nudity was considered “normal,” however I do know that really isn’t the case.

Being nude is normal for me, and she is fully aware of that. Yet, I always put on clothing when given notice, either by my wife or the woman that she is about to enter our home. Why? It is a choice I make to make both the woman and my wife comfortable. We all want our family and friends to be comfortable in our presence.

Though we are naturists or nudists, we do wear clothing to put ourselves and others at ease, at least those of us who are not militant about keeping our clothing off. Yes, I do know a few who refuse to wear clothing in their own home regardless of who comes over. If I did this in our prairie community, the house would be empty. Though I am an introvert and don’t need many people in my life, I am not anti-social. I enjoy a few people in my life so I need to make accommodations to make that work for myself and for these few others.

Since most, if not all of my readers are naturists or nudists, how do you deal with the needs and the presence of “others” in your life who are not comfortable or accepting with nudity? And if they are relatively accepting and comfortable with your nudity, but not comfortable with it when others are present, do you remain nude or do you put on clothing to ensure that anxiety is reduced for both yourself and the others present? I look forward to your responses.

It’s the late afternoon here in this small town on the Canadian prairies. It is sunny and relatively warm. I woke up to a temperature of +2 degrees Celsius. The garden tells me that there was a faint touch of frost on some of the leaves. I guess I could say that summer is officially over and that autumn has made an entrance. The strong winds of the past few days is appreciated by the farmers trying to harvest their crops which appear to be abundant and of high quality, bumper crops in their terms. We went for our usual 5.5 km walk when pressed for time this morning. Because of the wind and the single digit temperatures, we wore three layers. It is going to take some time to acclimatize the weather shift.

By the time we got back from our walk, the temperature reached double digits. I went to work taking corn off the cob so that my wife could can it in pint jars for the winter. This will be the first winter in our home since the winter of 2006-7. From our vantage point, we assume that we will be home bound for the next two winters waiting for the new normal to hopefully settle. Because of this intention, we are ensuring that we can and freeze garden produce, including produce we get from local Hutterian gardens. At least we will eat well.

The corona virus pandemic is forcing a lot of changes on all of us. Some of those changes are good, and some are not so good. For naturists, it has meant a more solitary existence. Home naturist is likely the norm for most. Non-naturists are also taking advantage of social distancing and working at home to forego the need to wear clothing. I haven’t gone to my home naturist club this year despite paying my annual fees. I just didn’t want to risk meeting up with old friends who may or may not be carriers. After all, at our age, we are most at risk. It is enough to have my safe and sacred space called my home and yard.

Because of the pandemic, I have done a lot of improvements, including a privacy fence that has long been needed. As a result, my non-naturist wife is less nervous when I am in the yard while nude, which is most of the time when our neighbours aren’t present. Another project is going to happen relatively soon. We are changing out the wood fireplace for a gas fireplace. I am allergic to wood smoke so we haven’t used the fireplace. Now that we’ll be home for the full winter, a fireplace will be a welcome feature. Once that project is finalised, I will likely post a photo.

The pandemic is impacting all of us, psychologically. I shut down my previous site because of a depression that COVID-19 exacerbated. I retreated just like I retreated from contact in the outer world with social distancing. Now, as I have achieved more balance, I find myself ready to be willing to risk being vulnerable and exposed.

How are you responding to the changes in yourself in relation to people face-to-face and online? I am listening and I care about what you will have to say.

Yesterday, we celebrated forty-nine years of marriage. As is normal for us, a walk in the countryside was included as part of our anniversary celebrations. We drove to one of our starting points near the hills to the south of our prairie town home, about seven kilometres. After parking the truck in a field that had been combined. I set my Garmin watch to record our hiking trail and other interesting stats. We followed the dirt road for 2.5 kilometres to the end of the road. Once through a gate, I removed my shorts and we continued on to walk up and down the hills and ravines which were removed from the busy countryside where harvesting was in progress.

My wife took this photo, as well as a few others while we were trekking through the hills and valleys. Though the photo was blurred, I decided that it was perfect, especially for this blog post. It’s the idea that the image projects more than the recording of an event. There is no doubt that the scene was natural rather than contrived. This was a thin wildlife trail through shrub where I was likely to get scratched by various bushes and thorny weeds if I wasn’t careful. It definitely couldn’t be a “selfie” moment. My wife simply took the opportunity to capture this image with her cellphone.

Five and a half kilometres later, we had returned to the beginning of the dirt road trail where the shorts were put back on and we retraced our steps to the truck. My Garmin watch recorded our hike. The straight line represents the part walked while I wore shorts. The circle at the bottom was my place and time for free-hiking. Just a side note, combining wheat was in progress in the field just to the right of where I had parked my truck. Soon, there will be no people to be seen in the area once the last of the crops are taken down and I will have all of this to myself meaning a longer distance to free-hike.

It was time to head home for a refreshing “cerveza con limon” on our deck in the back yard before our late lunch. Our backyard is my sanctuary where clothing is mostly optional. When we don’t have company and the weather is decent, I don’t wear clothing. This has become normal life now that the privacy fence has been constructed.

Well, it has been some time, and I am not too sure that this is going to survive. After all, none of the past blog sites have managed to survive. That said, I have managed to find a few old export files from last year that serve as a historical reminder of that blogging past. I am re-approaching the idea of blogging because I am a writer and a blogger.

I began my first blog site in 2006, a travel blog site because I had taken a job in China as a university instructor, teaching education classes to students who were learning to be second-language teachers in China. With my background as both a second-language teacher and administrator in charge of teachers and teachers-in-training, it seemed to be the natural lateral move once I had retired from educational administration in my home province in Canada. That first blog posting site was mostly about showing images of China and my life there with my wife.

I began my first WordPress site in late 2008. Again, it was about photography to begin with and then it morphed into a psychology blog site at the beginning of the New Year in Mexico, in 2009. Occasionally, a post would be naturist in content. It wasn’t until the spring of 2013 before I began to have a blog site focused on naturism. Because of my own psychological journey as a naturist, the site was continually erased over the years. So it is with a tentative hope that I once again head down this trail as a naturist blogger.

The new privacy fence is done. I still have a repair to do for the old fence sections by the garden. With that done, I now have a new fence, a new garden shed, and a new deck. That brings an end to my focus on building projects, at least until the autumn season.

This has been a very different kind of spring for me. Normally, I would have travelled to three different homes scattered across the Canadian and American prairies to visit my grandchildren. As well, I would have attended about five book-signing events with the hopes of selling more of my books. Because of #StayHome #StaySafe, I have not ventured out using my truck, with the exception of two lumber yards and two grocery stores. The only other times for leaving the house and our property was to go for walks. It has been a strange three months indeed.

I’ve been paying attention to life. I have decided that this year will not have me travel to sell books at major bookstore signing events as I have done for the past three years. I don’t see or feel the need to travel very much. I have a yard that is now naturist friendly. I have free-hiking trails not too distant from my home. And, I have more than enough projects to keep me busy – writing projects for the most part. Naturally, #Covid19 has played a big role in having me think twice about travelling and trying to keep life “normal.” There is no returning to the old normal. All of us are finding ourselves forced to create a “new normal.”

Another decision I have made because of moving to a new normal, is with regards to this blog site. For a while, I have wondered about keeping it up. I think I have exhausted my desire to keep a naturist blog site going. I have been publishing naturist posts since 2009. My audience has dropped off significantly over the past number of months, suggesting that my readers are basically done with the blog site. as well. However, instead of shutting it down, I will try to post weekly for a while.  I will re-evaluate my decision later this summer. Before making a hasty decision, I will leave the fate of the site to you, my readers.