Reflections: End of November, 2018

November, 2018, was most definitely not the month I expected it to be. As those of you who read ReNude Pride regularly already know, my father died on November 11. This event happened unexpectedly following his diagnosis of stage 4 cancer of the colon, liver and one kidney on October 28. Mercifully, it wasn’t a protracted end but was swift and relatively pain-free. Which does beg the question: “How the hell do the doctors or any of us really know how painless any death truly is?” 

Before anyone reading here gets the wrong idea, this is not going to be a rehashing of grief over my father’s death. I’ve already devoted an entire post on that topic. For those of you who missed that entry and are interested in reading it, click the link here. I do, however, want to publicly express my sincere appreciation to everyone who publicly and privately shared with me their sympathy and best wishes. I am grateful to each and every one of you! Simply knowing that others care is a wonderful consolation.

One additional negative thought that I want to mention here is that due to my family crisis, I missed publishing a post here on ReNude Pride. Normally I try to keep at least two or three “stand-by” posts to use should any type of emergency or natural disaster occur. This month, I had neglected to account for the number of completed posts in my “drafts” file which resulted in my missing a scheduled publication day (usually every Monday and Friday, weekly). I apologize for my oversight and for any confusion that may have resulted.

Similarly, I neglected to post a monthly suggestion to  my blog page, Nudecentric Briefs, here on ReNude Pride. Once again, my apologies. I should mention that I incorrectly totalled the number of negative thoughts that I needed to mention here. The above paragraph’s opening sentence should read “two” instead of one. My bad! If any of you missed the launching of the Nudecentric Briefs page late last summer, click on the link here.

To prove that November, 2018, wasn’t a complete loss of effort and energy at ReNude Pride, there is an optimistic accomplishment that I want to note. The series of interviews that are featured on this site of fellow-bloggers who are both same gender loving and/or bisexual and who enjoy being proud bare practitioners experienced a renewed renewal this month in the form of an interview with Brent Pace, author of the site, Pace Of Mind . Please click the title to visit his site. Although Brent doesn’t consider himself a naturist or a nudist, he openly acknowledges publicly enjoying clothes-freedom. To read his interview, click here. Thank you again, Brent, for both your cooperation and collaboration!

The Winter Holiday season is now upon all of us. A time of the year when massive throngs descend into retail businesses to purchase gifts for family and friends. It is also the time of year when many of us, out of personal conviction or religious duty, drop cash gifts into the red buckets for the Salvation Army. I was vaguely aware of accusations against the Salvation Army in the past: refusal to provide services to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer (GLBTQ) persons, hiring and volunteer discrimination, etc. But I was never confronted about how blatant and widespread the problem was until I read a blog posting by my good friend and blogging buddy, Kishna, author of the site, We Are The Gayte Keepers. Yes, it is my blogging buddy’s intention to spell “gate” as “gayte.”

His post offers a solution to all who pass these red donation buckets daily. Instead of walking by and not dropping in loose change or a banknote, his post offers readers a coupon that explains precisely why the individual isn’t making a donation to fund homophobic behavior. It’s an enlightening and interesting post that offers the reader the opportunity to take a stand in combating discrimination, hate and homophobia. To read his posting, “Here’s A Voucher You Can Drop In A Salvation Army Bucket To Stand Up For GLBTQ Rights,” please click here and let your conscience be your guide to action.

Finally, in remembering how busy many of us are during this frantic holiday time, please be safe and especially cautious during this season. There are many around us who’d rather rob, cheat, scam or worse. Be careful!

Naked hugs!

Roger/ReNude Pride