ow, it isn’t that I like to complain, but the solstice has passed and the weather is acting like it is April here on the Canadian prairies. This morning, it is just 11 Celsius and it is still necessary to wear socks outside with clogs/crocs/whatever. This is just disgraceful. I mean, summer is short enough as it is without loosing another week to an extended spring. The forecast tells me that it won’t reach 21 Celsius until July 1st. Two days ago, we had some hail mixed in a welcome rain – the hail wasn’t appreciated. Oh well, I guess that it is enough to be alive and able to practice some rigorous naturism like my friend Melvin in Montana.
As I mentioned in my last post, I travelled to my son’s home in the neighbouring province. He’s away from home, so it is my privilege to be here in his place to take my nine year-old grandson to the games of his baseball tournament. Since it won’t be hot, that will be a good thing for playing baseball. Now, to be honest, competitive team sports such as baseball, football, basketball, rugby, and hockey [to name just an obvious few] need to have the players dressed in uniforms. Yes, you can “play” these games for fun while nude, but when it comes to serious competition, uniforms are vital. The idea of uniforms is to both protect and separate the team from their opposition.
Think about that for a moment. How do you distinguish your teammates from the competition if all are naked? The uniform provides a sense of group identity. An example taken from my past life as a minor hockey and baseball coach. When the kids were just beginning, no uniforms were worn for hockey practices or shinny, no uniforms were worn for practices or scrub games of baseball. The focus was on developing physical skills. How does one distinguish one’s tribe from another?
Even in those nude societies that are holdovers from the past such as along the Amazon River, there is something that is used to differentiate one’s tribe from others. In modern society it is clothing. It is just human nature to need that differentiation. I seriously doubt that we would ever be able to do away with the general need for clothing outside of protection from the elements or for protection in the workplace.