An online journal celebrating the joys of living bare with pride! This site usually publishes every Monday and Friday. I may be irreverent but I am no way irrelevant! My preferred personal pronouns are he, him, his.
It’s the last day of February, 2017. The shortest month of the year!
And the final full month of the winter season.
The guy in the image above is looking out his window, waiting for the arrival of Spring!
” ‘Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
Naked hugs!
Roger/ReNude Pride
It’s hard to believe that February is almost over. The last full month of the winter-time is swiftly drawing to a close. And with good riddance, as far as I’m concerned (weather-wise). I’m no fan of the frigid temperatures or blustery winds! I prefer heat and humidity over the cold, anytime! Therefore, in bidding farewell to the month of February, I can bear in mind that we’re now closer to the arrival of Spring! That thought alone adds an extra bounce of joy into every step that I take!
As a bare practitioner, my worst possible nightmare (horror of horrors) is being forced to wear clothing or a covering at a clothes-free social event. This nocturnal terror is ten times worse than any imagery described in Dante’s Inferno and is comparable to the proverbial “nightmare from hell.” It even surpasses a recurring dream of an unending and repetitive sequence of visits to the dentist.
Here in the USA, today, Monday, February 20, is the day that we honor all of the presidents of the country, the ones living and those deceased. I guess this month was selected because two of the earliest presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, were born in February. As today is a national holiday, it is also the final three-day weekend of the winter season. For the past eight years, a fellow gay naturist/nudist friend of ours always invites between six to eight same gender loving bare couples to his home (near the Blue Ridge Mountains in rural Virginia) to spend the entire weekend, clothes-free, of course.
A nudist friend of mine from Massachusetts, USA, wisely informed me that the “proper” term for being bare (naked, nude) in the snow was s’naked. This was back in 2008, before I’d even contemplated anything as absurd and foolish as stripping off my clothes and romping completely carefree and clothes-free in the snow. Although I think of myself as a life-long naturist/nudist, up until that time, being bare and outside in the winter held no appeal to me. I knew that I preferred the heat and humidity and that was it. I had no desire to become a human popsicle!
Tomorrow, February 14, is the day where almost everyone in the entire world exchanges the greeting: I love you! It makes no difference if the person is family, friend or indeed the object of our devoted affection, the vast majority of us share this sentiment with at least one other person on this occasion. It’s a simple phrase that sums up our feelings.
Authors Note: Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and these are some thoughts in anticipation of the date and to share how my husband, Aaron, and I first met and began falling in love .
There aren’t too many of us who are fortunate enough to receive a Valentine greeting that is as truthful as the one above; unless it is from a naturist/nudist spouse. Only someone who is committed to another in heart, mind and soul dares to be bold enough to openly admit to their emotional shortcomings and physical aberrations.
This particular blog-post is not exclusively nudecentric or gaycentric. It is about a health issue that affects us all, regardless of ethnicity, lifestyle or gender attraction.
Tomorrow, February 7, 2017, is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) here in the USA. February is the month designated for the celebration of African-American (Black) history in this country. It only makes sense that a day to highlight HIV/AIDS awareness within the U. S. Black communities be observed during the month when those same communities are focused on showcasing their many achievements and heroes.
The National Football League’s (NFL) Super Bowl game is played tonight in Houston, Texas, USA. The Super Bowl is the “World Cup” equivalent of American professional football. Tonight’s contenders for the year-long bragging rights are the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. The game is televised live over various television and cable networks and the featured performer during the half-time festivities is Lady Gaga.
When guests overnight away from your own home same sex couples often face a dilemma that is unique. This is especially true when staying with family members, particularly parents. Where do you sleep? In separate beds in separate rooms? What about if you live together while you’re at home and being a dutiful child and visiting a childhood home? Does the partner who’s parents own the home ask if you both can sleep in the same bed? Or do you take the “easy” route and stay in a nearby hotel?
This question may sound trivial and silly to some but it can be a relationship-breaker to a same gender couple who are both trying not to offend or alienate the family of one or the “in-laws” of the other. The problem is compounded by the fact that most extended families don’t have experience in this type of situation and many have no one to look to for their advice. The resources that are available for most man/woman couples simply don’t exist for gay couples and their extended families.
Aaron (my husband) and I were fortunate in that we both have supportive parents who made it clear, beforehand, that when (not if, but when) we visited exactly what the sleeping arrangements would be. Aaron and I met in 2010 at a social nudity event. When he went with me to Greece that August to see my parents, we knew in advance that we’d be sleeping apart. As my father explained to us in an email, we’d only recently met and weren’t even living together, so we’d have separate bedrooms while in Greece. Their logic being you do what you want in your own space but once you’re under our roof, our will be done. Period. We agreed.
That same year, for Thanksgiving, we traveled to Roanoke, Virginia, to stay with Aaron’s parents. He’d only “come-out” to his parents after he met me and so this family visit was somewhat tense (understatement). He’d told his folks about meeting mine and about our sleeping accommodations while there and his parents felt the same. As that was settled before we even left Arlington, our stay in Roanoke was relatively stress free.
We didn’t move in together until the Spring, 2012. Once that happened, whenever we went to see my family, we were allowed to sleep together as long as my nieces and nephews weren’t staying with my parents. If they were there, then it was back to sleeping apart. With his family, we weren’t allowed to sleep in the same bed even though they knew that we were living together.
On October 6, 2014, marriage equality came to Virginia. Aaron’s parents immediately began a relentless campaign for our getting married. They even called my parents and enlisted their support for us legalizing our relationship. Unbeknownst to either of them, we’d already agreed to wed in 2015. We both wanted a summer wedding as neither of us appreciate cold weather.
Aaron and I were married on Saturday, August 15, 2015. After that day, when we visit my family in Greece, whether my nieces and nephews are staying with my parents or not, we share the same bed. When we visit Aaron’s parents, we now sleep in the same bed in his old room.
I realize that different circumstances apply to each same gender couple and that each situation is both special and unique depending on the family. Just as no two individuals are alike, neither are their family dynamics. Marriage equality is a recent phenomenon and isn’t universally recognized. Homophobia still exists throughout the world and even in the most progressive of societies. Their are religious beliefs and cultural taboos that some parents and even contemporaries can’t seem to move beyond.
Unfortunately, while although most of our families honestly love us, many don’t really understand us. Without causing a familial crisis, most of my gay friends who are in relationships just keep their comments to themselves and do whatever is needed to maintain harmony on the home front. That is by no means an ideal solution but it is sometimes the only option available to us.
Most of us don’t want to add any extra stress into our already hectic lives. Family drama, specifically over a situation where we have no control, is something we can all live without. There is no benefit to being an unwelcome guest in the household of another. Nothing good will come out of that predicament.
I offered the examples above of how Aaron’s family and mine responded to our sleeping together both before and after our marriage. Other families will offer different levels of acceptance based on moral values, religious beliefs and individual attitudes. There is no right or wrong carved into stone regarding this situation. Each couple and their family will have to decide for themselves what they can and cannot live with.
It goes without saying that sleeping bare is the choice of each couple. When sleeping nude in the home of another, just be mindful of the “enthusiasm” of children when guests are around. While visiting my parents when one of my nephews was there, Aaron and I were awakened before dawn one morning with my five-year old nephew crawling into bed with us and taking off his pyjamas. Since we were asleep clothes-free, he wanted the same. While there is nothing wrong with our nudity, we should remain sensitive to the tendency of children to emulate their elders and to the wishes of their parents.
And children aren’t the only ones to be concerned about. Sometimes, the adult homeowners are just as lax in respecting privacy. If your family isn’t aware of the visiting couple’s naturist/nudist habits, re-thinking those sleeping habits might be advisable.
Naked hugs!
Roger/ReNude Pride
ReNude Pride 