Through a Naturist Lens

When I looked out of the bedroom window this morning, this is the sight that met my eyes, snow. The scene is of my neighbour’s yard and a trellis that I have photographed a few times in the past. Today marks the third day in a row of snow fall. To be honest, I expected to still see winter upon our return, but this seems a bit of overkill. Again, I got dressed in order to go outside and clear off the walkway in front of our house and in our backyard. Once that was done, my wife and I decided to enjoy the sunshine that appeared with tea on our back deck. We needed to wear our parkas and gloves, but the tea in the sunshine was well worth it.

As for news on the Covid 19 front, I have none to share. I have limited my searching through the media in hopes of finding out something new. The bad news will be still waiting for me tomorrow should I decide  to catch up on the news. A few phone calls to family have taken place. And several flurries of chats with other family members had helped fill in some of the hours. Now, here it is near the end of the afternoon and I find that the day has somehow managed to race away. I have to admit that I don’t find time dragging on at all. If anything, there still isn’t enough time to do everything I want to accomplish. It’s strange.

Today is day seven of our quarantine in our home on the prairies. This first week has raced by making our heads swirl. I have to admit that it has been easy for a host of reasons. However, the prime reason for it being so easy is the fact that I am not alone. A secondary reason is likely due to the fact that I am introvert who easily gets lost in the stories that I am in the process of writing. A third and final reason would be the fact that our children, and grandchildren, extended family and an assortment of friends near and far, along with neighbours make sure to remain in frequent contact using technology. I have to admit, I am blessed.

Earlier today, I created an online chat group for my five oldest grandsons for the purpose of posting my “bedtime” stories. It took only minutes once it was in place for several of them to begin chatting to each other across national borders. I have committed to posting twice weekly stories for them to listen to, a hark back to the past when I would tell them stories, usually with a bit of spookiness, when they were at our place or when I would visit at their places when they were young. So far, so good. First episode is posted and the second is written and ready to be recorded.

Due to the shovelling of snow, the several communication ventures and assorted phone calls, I never did manage to add to the Naturist Novel. I did, however, add significantly to the Family Covid 19 Pandemic Journal which will become a vivid reminder of these strange and somewhat scary times.

How has your day been? Do you have a support group to allow you to feel connected in these trying times of social isolation? I hope so. If not, reach out and be there for someone else. The personal rewards will be well worth the effort.

Be well, be safe, and stay the f*ck at home.

It isn’t outdoor naturism weather yet. Still, I had to steal a few moments outdoors this morning despite the fact that it was -12 Celsius. There was no breeze before 7:00 this morning, a a faint falling of snow flakes was too much to resist. With the experience a sharp contrast to being outdoors almost every hour of the waking day in Ecuador, most of those hours without worrying about clothing, it became a vivid reminder that I was back home in Canada.

My mood is vastly improved this morning. Late yesterday, I began writing a new story. Almost at the same time, I was writing and audio recording a different story which will be sent, part by part, to my grandchildren who love having “Papa/Pere” tell them stories just before bedtime.  The first part is just over five minutes long at 750 words. That will be my target for updates to that story.

The naturist pandemic novel has 800 words committed to paper [virtual paper]. It is a strong beginning, however I want to begin again with an alternate beginning, one that would go back further in time to earlier in pandemic timeline. Likely, if my thoughts are to be realised, the existing 800 words would become the intro to a sequel. Strange how inspiration works. I don’t question the Muse. I am fairly obedient when it comes to following the inspirations that the Muse brings forward.

Just in case anyone wonders, at home I am clothing free. It isn’t a problem, especially since no one will be coming to our door or entering our house. Besides, most of my neighbours are aware of my usual nudity, both in the house and in my yard. A good number have seen me nude as well. I wonder how the world will respond to public nudity in the future once the Covid19 pandemic has slipped into the history books. I am tilting towards a more positive response though there is no evidence to prove one way or the other.

What are your thoughts about public and social nudity/naturism post-pandemic?

I woke up to a blizzard this morning. After it stopped around eleven this morning, we had more than 20 cm of snow [more than 8″] laying on the ground. The two of us soon got to work shovelling the snow to allow access to our front door, as well as to clean off the back deck and pathways in the backyard, including a jogging path around the inner edges of the yard which we use as part of our daily exercise routine. Yes, we have brought the idea of exercising back to Canada with us. As I see it, it might be two or more weeks before we can use the country roads and lanes for our daily exercise.

So far, it has been a good three or more weeks of social isolation for us. I have to admit that it gets to a person after a while, even for an introvert such as myself. Last night was not a good night for sleep. There were too many scattered thoughts swirling around, many of them not of the positive and hopeful variety.

As I write this post this afternoon, the mood still hasn’t lifted. Strangely, the exercise of shovelling didn’t seem to work its usual magic. Perhaps it is the lack of sunshine, perhaps not. Now, my mood could have had something to do with watching the movie called, Contagion which we watched yesterday evening. Add wine into the mix and it became a recipe for normally silent stuff to find its way into one’s thoughts. I have a strong suspicion that I won’t be mixing wine with another pandemic movie any time soon.

Thankfully, the news is quiet today. It’s the weekend and even nasty trolls and bots need to rest up before they return to their dastardly work of creating chaos and confusion. It’s time for some tea and a return to a writing project. Be well, be safe, and stay the f*ck at home [oops, my attitude slipped out again].

It warmed up by the afternoon after beginning with a temperature of -15 C before windchill which made it feel more like -23 C. With the sun pouring down at 3:00 pm and the temperature at -5 C with a breeze, it was the perfect time to be outside on my back deck. As you can see, there is still some snow in my yard. Snow has been scarce and it doesn’t bode well for a great start for the new farming season here on the prairies. There is a forecast for some more snow for tomorrow, but it will be dependent upon late spring rains for needed soil moisture for seeding.

I’m not a farmer. However, this is farming country and I am well aware of how critical our world depends on agriculture. With Covid19 doing a number on our world economy, and a worse number on human health, both mental and physical, the last thing we would need would be to add in an agricultural crisis into the mix. These are hard times. As human beings, we have no choice but to adapt to the world which will emerge.

That aside, my middle child had suggested this morning [she lives in the USA with her husband and three teen-aged children] that I write a book about this whole pandemic as it effects our extended and nuclear family lives. It’s an idea that I will follow up on, simply because I can do this, and do it well. That idea grew into yet another idea of a novel using the same pandemic reality to create a pandemic influenced novel which enhances the real-world value of normalising nudity. More about that will be said in future posts. I don’t want to say too much about the idea as I want to see what emerges in the writing department first.

Now with the need to get the stories right, I have spent much of my day building timelines: a) the global timeline up to today, b) the Canadian timeline up to today, and c) my timeline from December to now – this is the most I have done for pre-planning a story – it will be a story – in my life. As you can see, I will not be getting bored with all this quarantine time on my hands.

Added to my writing and researching activity, the two of us have continued to exercise outdoors in the afternoons when it isn’t quite so cold. Twenty minutes of exercise including jogging twenty inner circuits of our yard. In another ten days, we will be able to venture off our property to put in our usual long-distance country walks. It’s easier to maintain a healthy mindset if one has a healthy body, and vice-versa.

How do you spend your time in social isolation? I’m interested.

The sun is out inviting for a few moments of outdoor sunshine as a naturist. Still, it is enjoyable enough looking out the windows. as I couldn’t be outside very long. It’s cold out. While at the table having breakfast this morning, I saw a pair of Blue Jays. They are a first for me here in our yard, or even in our town. Usually, we have to be quite a bit further north to see these birds.

Today, my mood has improved. I finally decided to shave [not the moustache or the goatee] after five days of neglect. That was the first sign of a shift within me. I guess it would be similar to deciding to dress rather than stay in pyjamas all day like many who are depressed because of Covid-19. Of course, I don’t wear pyjamas. Like all naturists, the height of fashion means being totally bare. Still, I do wear a light sweater when it gets too chilly in our house. I’m not a glutton for punishment. I love warmth.

This morning I helped my wife set up an online bridge table which will be restricted to her friends here in our tiny prairie town. Now, they can play bridge at distance and not worry about gathering, as per their usual habit, in someone’s home. Social isolation and distancing is paramount. Her friends are glad that we have returned. Now they can stop worrying about us. And, with our return, options for filling in time alone are increased.

This is the power of community. Community normally exists outside of one’s home, with the home being a retreat from community into a private sanctuary. With Covid-19, community needs to preserved. Thankfully, technology helps with this. I imagine that over the next few weeks, various strategies will be enacted to bridge the distance of physical isolation.

For myself, I am finding that I am commenting a bit more with others who are on Twitter. It is a way of breaking my self-imposed silence, a way to stop lurking and start communicating more. There don’t have to be many words spoken/written [and yes, it feels like the words are spoken, at least inside of my head] to feel oneself stepping outside of silent boundaries. Our words are heard, and often values whether it be with a “like” or a “retweet” and especially with a comment offered in return. I can’t imagine going through this pandemic in total isolation, as though one is in a solitary confinement prison cell. This was what those who went into isolation during the Spanish Flue at the end of WWI had to have experienced.

What are your strategies for connecting to family, friends, and community as you self-isolate or quarantine?

Life couldn’t be better for us tucked into our comfortable home on the Canadian prairies. Now, it is all about waiting at distance for the healing of the world to begin. We slept last night for a full nine hours. While having coffee in our living room while looking out the large picture window, I commented that we had been living on adrenaline for almost three weeks. It took both of us living on high alert in Ecuador to ensure that we were able to leave that country before it went on complete shutdown. Yesterday morning, the last Canadian repatriation flight left Ecuador with some of our friends lucky enough to find land transport to Quito where all of the repatriation flights were accessed. The whole exercise taught both of us that we need community – family, friends, neighbours, national governments, and countless unnamed service people.

I got to go out onto my back deck. It was cold -10 Celsius, with a brisk breeze to make it feel even colder. I didn’t stay out long, not because of the cold, but because I knew that I should stay inside. I wasn’t breaking any rules on the back deck. But if anyone saw me on the back deck, regardless of being nude or clothed, it might cause stress. After all, I just returned from out-of-country. However, that brief moment was needed to tell me that I was truly at “home.”

Our modern world is all about personal freedoms and rights. What so many of us fail to realise, is the fact that we can only have these freedoms and rights because of the collective working together to protect these freedoms. In times of crisis, such as we are experiencing world-wide at the present, the collective is the whole human race. Borders between  countries, such as between Canada and the United States of America, are just concepts that have no meaning when confronted by a threat such as Covid19. The real threats aren’t the “other.” The real threat begins with the “self.”  We become the enemy when we defy logic, common sense, and regulations that are being imposed to help us help ourselves.

These words from our Prime Minister here in Canada, tell it like it is. “So be smart about what you do, about the choices that you make, that is how you will serve your country and how we will all serve each other … It’s in our hands, it is in your hands.” Governments can only do so much. If we don’t do our part with self-distancing, then this will be the funeral pyre of our modern world. Yes, there will be those that will emerge from the ashes like the phoenix bird.  However, if you and I are to arrive on the other side of this pandemic, we will need to protect ourselves and all those around us via physical social isolation and distancing.

The virus doesn’t spread through the Internet. Keep connected using social media. Virtual presence is better than no presence. On the plus side, no one cares whether you are clothed or not. Therein lies a new freedom. That said, be careful when online. There are too many voices of despair, too many who see the crisis as an opportunity to profit from the fears and miseries of others. If you hear messages of hate, block. If you hear voices that attack others based on gender, race, colour, religion, or for any reason at all, block. This is not the time to disrespect. It is the time to offer messages of hope for individuals and humanity as a whole.

It is Tuesday and I am finally at home. It is -5 Celsius outside, not exactly the kind of temperature that invites a person to sit outside au naturel, especially with a good breeze making the trees dance around. Still, the glimpses of sunshine between the clouds is inviting. For now, I will wait.

Now that I am back home, I am in quarantine for a minimum of fourteen days. The likelihood is that we will continue to self-isolate for a few more weeks after that with the only change being the ability to drive into the countryside to go for walks. Until that time. We will confine ourselves to our house and our back yard.

When we got to our final airport, a nephew and his mate brought my truck, filled with gas, to the airport for us. In the back seat of the truck was almost $200 worth of groceries to help tied us over for a while. We already have a full deep freezer and stocked shelves at home with non-perishables. One of our neighbours turned on our water and prepped our house for our return. Another neighbour left a bottle of red wine in our doorway as a welcome home gift. Connections are important. Community is important.

The world has changed, and it is continuing to change faster than we realise. I am unsure in which direction the change is going other than it feels somewhat positive, at least for what is happening in Canada. As for the USA, I don’t feel so positive. I will just leave that statement as it is written. Since it is about how I “feel,” I don’t want to predict anything or make any judgment calls.

Now that I am at home, I have been busy with sanitizing everything that I have touched, including everything in the bags that I brought home. It is just how I do things. Naturally, everything that I am doing is being done while clothing free. I will likely not need to wear any clothing until the first 14 days of quarantine are completed. Since no visitors will be allowed in the house, no one would become offended by my nudity.

On another note, I will likely be busy for the rest of the day and leave a return to writing and editing until tomorrow. This post was an important task for me, as you are part of my community. Be safe, stay home. We are all in this together.

We are in Quito. Yesterday was a unique experience as we made the ten hour drive [normally about an eight and a half hour drive] of 525 kilometres. Most of the travel is through very winding mountain roads as Quito is located in the Andes mountain range which travels the length of South America.

We got stopped ten times for papers, passport, and health checks along the way. Those stops accounted for the extra time. In two of these stops we were required to exit the van and get blasted by vaporized chlorine, using the same equipment that similarly disinfected the van. At almost every stop, the van was disinfected the same way, both the inside and outside of the van. For the whole journey we were required to wear face masks and constantly use provided antiseptic solution to clean our already clean hands. The checkpoints were manned by national police, municipal police and the military carrying weapons. There was no fooling around. No attempt at humour as the journey would have been halted with unknown results. No one was willing to find out so all six passengers in the van were very well behaved. We were the only people in the van over 32.

Once we arrived and had claimed our reserved room, it didn’t take long to claim the room as a clothing-optional residence. It is a good-sized room with a large sitting area and a desk for my use.  I have to admit, we’ve both become a bit phobic about sanitizing everything. We had prepared our own alcohol-based “wipes” and we used them liberally to clean all surfaces in the hotel room. If we leave the room, we wear our face masks and use antiseptic gel if we touch anything, such as elevator buttons. Then, we resanitize everything we touch [doorknobs and such] upon reentry. And the, we follow the hand-washing protocol being preached in every corner of the world. It should help keep us safe, at least at the best of our ability.

One of our grandsons sent us this youtube video to keep up our spirits – Stay the Fuck at Home. Then not long after that treat, our middle child who is mother to three of our grandsons sent us a message: “So my flight attendant friend said when you get home if you can live without the stuff in your luggage you should just let it sit for 14 days. Luggage is extremely dirty and touched by many hands. So run around naked for 2 weeks and then do laundry please.” Who would have ever thought that an adult child would ever give this kind of recommendation to her parents? LOL!

I will, hopefully, put up another post tomorrow, either from the Quito airport before departure, or from the Toronto airport after arrival in Canada. Likely, it will be the latter scenario. Until then, I encourage each and every one of you to “Stay the Fuck at Home!”

We got lucky and now have air tickets for the repatriation flight on Sunday. Tomorrow morning, Friday, we travel to Quito where Air Canada will pick us up on Sunday morning. We are making the travel to Quito early as we don’t like leaving things to chance at the last minute. We have booked two nights at the modern airport hotel which is within walking distance. Leave nothing to chance. As a result, this post will be the last from the casa here in Olon.

The day has been hectic beyond measure, totally an anxiety filled day for both of us. It will be a relief to be able to return home even though it is still winter on the prairies and we will be confined to our house for another round of quarantine.  Family are doing their part in Canada to make our return as problem free as possible. Gas in our vehicle which will be waiting for us at the airport. Vehicle filled with groceries which the missus has listed for a certain nephew who has kept our vehicle in his yard over the winter to date.  Our friends have been doing their part as well.

One particular bit of help was from our next door neighbour who emailed me this morning to tell me she had a dream last night about our returning home. Every bit helps. And you, my readers, have been part of that positive support group that have kept my spirits up while in quarantine here in Ecuador. Thank you.

As this post’s title says, we are alive and well here in our casa in Ecuador. This is not something we take for granted. We are diligent in doing our part to keep out health as good as it can be. The most important part, is how we safeguard our psychological health, how we keep up positive spirits. Once one descends into anxiety and depression, the physical health becomes even more compromised. So, how are we doing that?

We have created routines. Most of our pre-social isolation are kept in place, such as morning coffee on the patio, connections with our children and grandchildren using social media, playing competitive card and dice games, daily exercise, and working together to prepare meals are some of those routines.

A new family group was created using Messenger, with the express purpose of cheering each other and bridging distances. Our adult children need this as much as we do. As well, we have been practising using a new message translator for our WhatsApp application so that there are no misunderstandings when talking to Ecuadorian transportation companies.

Now, for me, the added bonus is that I get to do all of this basically clothing free. I have a pair of shorts and top ready if needed. Of course, if I leave the property to get a few groceries [I know, it’s not allowed for seniors – I am a rebel], the clothing is obligatory. Life has definitely shifted to a more hopeful attitude.