To everyone reading and visiting here who is observing Christmas this week, have a safe and successful celebration!
Take care and stay bare!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry for here is planned for Friday, December 31, 2021, and the proposed topic is: “Bottoms-Up! December, 2021!
The above picture was made during a January blizzard and not a recent snow in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area!
There are a number of celebrations and/or holidays that happen in and around the month of December every year. Instead of even attempting to select a picture depicting each and every one (and accidently offending because of the one event that I inadvertently overlooked), this is a community-inspired posting offering Season’s greetings to one and all!
A seasonal greeting and a happy expression is given to each of you from our delightful and enthusiastic elf along with all our warm wishes!
A sleeping couple awaits another day of holiday bliss and joy while in the loving arms of one another!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: Best wishes to all! The next post entry here is planned for Monday, December 20, 2021, and the planned topic is: “Decorate the Tree!”
During this “holiday” time of the year, a vast majority of us are constantly inundated with reminders: gift giving, sharing, duties, obligations, responsibilities. In a word: appreciation. In gratitude for the advantages and the benefits that we have, we are encouraged and urged to “share” with those less fortunate the joy of being ourselves.
It is, after all, the decent and honourable “thing to do.” An appropriate and thoughtful seasonable gesture of goodwill. An act of kindness.
Brief pause.
Deep breath.
Moment of thought.
It is quite obvious that the subtle message intended for delivery wasn’t completely considered and evaluated by the originator. The concept, goal or ideal that inspired the creator was exceptional: outreach to all the people. Mission accomplished! The taskmaster, however, failed to include and recognize one segment of the general public.
The clothes free community. In particular, the bare practitioner (male, same gender loving, naturist/nudist) population of that specific community. Those of us who frequently become marginalized and therefore categorically ignored. We are seen as unworthy of any type of acknowledgement.
Frequently, we are subjected to blatant discrimination – even when we attempt to share with those who are not quite so fortunate in life. Those who extol the idea of sharing and spreading “good cheer” are increasingly determined to restrict those who give to those they determine “unworthy” of giving to others.
The reasoning behind the hypocrisy of rejecting “unworthy” contributions? It is because of who they are: specifically homosexual nudists. We are judged as demented and perverted are essentially less than human. Countless charities and churches reject or return donations offered by groups of defiled “pagans” and/or “sinners.” This year marks the third year that a Tidewater Virginia-based bare practitioner group has held a benefit gathering (private) for new toys for needy children and the items refused to be accepted by the sponsoring organization because it doesn’t want to appear to endorse a “questionable” cause.
My first cousin, Michael, is a member of this bare practitioner association and for a number of years co-chaired this event. For several years, Aaron and I drove down for the weekend to help with this project to provide toys for children.
A friend of mine in the Chicago, Illinois, metropolitan area supports “Warmer Coats” and his same gender loving club collectively buys new winter coats for children and the elderly. Again, their collective gift was denied but the membership were informed that individual private donations would be most welcome. A local church denying a gay men’s club the chance to “spread some cheer” because they’re queer!
Sometimes, stupidity surpasses kindness and acts of compassion and love!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry for here is planned for Monday, December 13, 2021, and the proposed topic is: “Winter Respite!”
Sooner or later, it was going to happen. I arrived home from a busy and tiring day at my university. Upon arrival, I discovered that I had left the keys to my front door in my office. With just minutes to spare, I briskly ran down the street to the condominium association office and they summoned someone to unlock the front door to my building and then allow me into our condo!
That problem resolved, it was a few minutes before the second dilemma came to mind – how in the world can I publish here tonight? The memory device that I draft my post entry on is attached to my domestic key lanyard. By this time in the evening, traffic is simply too congested for me to even contemplate driving to campus to retain the missing items. A long listing of profanity encompassed my mind!
Of course, I could wait for my spouse, Aaron, to finish his hospital shift at 11:00 p.m., drive home and then drive me into Washington, D.C. – however, it is my responsibility and not his!
I mentally debated this issue for several hours before deciding that my hectic workday was enough. Aaron’s job as nursing supervisor was frantic for him without me adding the burden of another trip back into the busy city. The world needn’t become a cumbersome load for us both due to my own incompetence!
The end result is that I will save the finalized version of “Sharing: A Bare View” for a later posting (hopefully, in just over a week from now). Instead, I’ll substitute this last minute and very frustrated posting so no one will have to wonder if I’ve indeed “lost my mind!” Truthfully, I have but that is a secret!
Please forgive my mistake. I’m going to search our small condo for my brain! Have a terrific weekend everyone!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, December 6, 2021, and the proposed topic is: “Official: Exonerated!”
World AIDS Day: The Beginning:
World AIDS Day was first envisioned in August, 1987, by James W. Bunn and Thomas Nutter, two public information officers for the Global Programme on AIDS at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. They jointly delivered their concept to Dr. Jonathan Mann, Director of the Global Programme on AIDS (now known as UNAIDS). Dr. Mann endorsed the idea and agreed with the recommendation for the first international observance on 1 December, 1988.
Forty years into the HIV/AIDS pandemic and humanity remains impotent in erasing the viral infection from our bodies. We are knowledgeable on how to prevent the transmission of the disease but we are vastly overwhelmed in efforts to transfer prevention knowledge into practice.
Basic Facts:
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.
AIDS is a result of HIV infection.
AIDS is not transferred or transmitted from one person to another. HIV is the virus that is shared. HIV may live within us for many years before the infection may be discovered (detected). For some, the recognition of the AIDS diagnosis may be years after being HIV+ (living with the virus).
HIV is spread through blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breast milk.
The above lists the four body fluids that carry the virus from one person to another. HIV is not contained in sufficient quantity in tears, sweat, saliva to spread (transmit).
Only a physician can diagnose AIDS.
Certain criteria (conditions) must be met before an AIDS determination can be made. Physicians (medical doctors) are the only internationally recognized professionals allowed to make this decision.
Infection:
Untreated (without medical attention), HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) which first weakens the human immune system (the body’s ability to fight diseases) and eventually destroys it. Medical treatment can and often does strengthen the immune system and enables people to live longer with healthier and productive lives.
There is currently no known cure or vaccine for HIV/AIDS but there are numerous testing strategies internationally to develop either a cure or a vaccine.
A red ribbon on 1 December indicates HIV/AIDS awareness!
U = U means that people living with HIV (HIV+) who achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load – the amount of HIV in the blood – by taking and adhering to antiretroviral therapy (ART) as prescribed cannot sexually transmit the virus to others.
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next planned post entry here is for Friday, December 3, 2021, and the proposed topic is: “Sharing!”
Another brief month of November is closing down and our series offers these tributes to the buttocks that are bared for this occasion! This also is a reminder that this is the final month of autumn for all those living in the Northern Hemisphere. To salute our bare practitioner brethren living in the Southern Hemisphere, the picture below serves to remind you of the joy of your upcoming season!
Regardless of whether we’re indoors or outside, any time of the month is good for baring our bottoms for others to admire and enjoy!
The above .gif image demonstrates all too well the gratification this part of our anatomy brings to the overwhelming majority of us!
It makes little difference if we’re the group leader of a hike through nature or swimming with our friends, buttocks seem to bring a smile to everyone’s face and a twinkle to the eyes of all!
Always remember, no matter if we’re commando (without underwear) or fully clothed, we’re all bare underneath whatever we may or may not wear!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry planned for here is tomorrow, Wednesday, December 1, 2021, and the proposed topic is: “World AIDS Day, 2021!”
Of course, I’ve never been one to boast or brag about my very own non-existent culinary skills. Likewise, I have no shame in admitting that I am completely lacking in this talent. So, no, that is absolutely not me trying to perform any food preparation in the above photograph. I want to be perfectly clear on that point up front!
My primary role in our household dining celebrations is to make certain that everything, except the food, is clean and presentable for our guests. Trust me, no one would ever attend if they even had the faintest idea that I was involved with any aspect of food preparation. My deficiencies in that area are well known! That’s the reason that Aaron and I are so well liked – his cooking and my cleaning!
This upcoming Thursday is the American holiday of Thanksgiving. Somewhere in the early years of colonialism here, the newly arriving Europeans failed in their harvest efforts and the Indigenous People here (native Americans) treated them to a bountiful harvest meal that prevented a widespread famine and thus ensured their eventual oppression from the preserved strangers. Even the origins of this occasion remain a mystery as two of the original thirteen colonies, Massachusetts and Virginia, both claim to be the location of the generosity of the native peoples.
The main entre of the Thanksgiving meal is the turkey. Supposedly, the fowl is native to North America, grew wild and multiplied and provided the starving colonists an unlimited source of protein that allowed them to feast for the entire first winter season here. All the while, the colonists from Massachusetts argued with the colonists from Virginia over who first observed the first Thanksgiving! Fortunately, there is no documentation of which observance was first – actually, there is no actual proof that either one of the occasions really happened. This would not be the first example of events mythically starting!
The Thanksgiving celebration also has another reason for existence. The day after the feast traditionally begins the annual Winter holiday shopping season here. Not always a very pleasant experience!
The roasted turkey image above depicts the fowl with obvious tan-lines (the result of wearing a swimsuit while out enjoying the sunbathing! A very silly image! We all know that every turkey is naturally a bare practitioner!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry for here is planned for Tuesday, November 30, 2021, and the proposed topic is: “Bottoms-Up! November, 2021”
Daymin Voss is one of my current favorite adult male same gender loving (gay) actors. He’s been featured in numerous scenes that both Aaron, my spouse, and I have found both enjoyable, exhilarating, and very inspirational. His on-screen work is rated “adult only” but that doesn’t make him any less a handsome and talented man!
Daymin Voss lives in Florida and has no problem with acknowledging his bare practitioner affinity with the public. As a professional performer in the same gender loving (bisexual or gay) film industry and as an escort, he views his sexual identity and his preference for clothes freedom enhance his professional qualifications.
He experiences no guilt or shame over his sexual orientation not his preference for nudity. His celebrity status in our bare practitioner community affords him no opportunity to attempt to conceal either his body or other aspects of his nature. Daymin frequents Haulover Beach – one of the most visited and popular of the nude beaches along the eastern coast of the USA (Atlantic Ocean). He’s probably as much of a tourist attraction there as the actual beach itself!
With Daymin as the celebrity-in-resident at Haulover Beach, it is no surprise to any of us of the clothing-optional coastal strip is immensely popular. Before moving on to more information on the beach itself, below are some life facts on Mr. Voss!
Born: June 23, 1988
Height: 5’11” 178 cm
Weight: 210 lbs. 95 kg
Body: Muscular, very hairy
Status: Gay
Race: African-American
Haulover Park is a 177 acre park that is operated by the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department. It is the largest public clothes freedom beach is the USA and attracts an estimated 1.3 million tourists annually. It is located in the metropolitan Miami area just north of Bal Harbour, Florida. It is an island causeway between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay.
The Dade County Commission secured the property in 1940 after approval of a $2 million municipal bond by county commissioner Charles Crandon for the purchase of northern Key Biscayne Park (later Crandon Park) and the beach north of Baker’s Haulover Inlet (then known as Ocean Beach).
Construction of the facility commenced in 1941 but was halted following the attack on the USA by Japan. Development resumed in 1945 and the property was renamed Haulover Park in January, 1947. It opened to the public in 1948.
The northernmost .06 km of the 2.4 km shoreline is a clothing optional beach officially recognized by the government of Miami-Dade County. This was first designated by South Florida Free Beaches, a local naturist/nudist organization, in July, 1991. The county didn’t sanction the usage but it eventually relented to recognition in 1993.
My spouse, Aaron, and I try to visit here at least once annually just for the joy of being away from home and in the sunshine!
We appreciate Daymin Voss promoting this site and the sanctioning of being a fellow and proud bare practitioner!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, November 22, 2021, and the proposed topic is: “Happy Thanksgiving!”
I’m adjusting my posting schedule in anticipation of the upcoming holiday seasons. For the month of November, the Thanksgiving holiday is Thursday, November 25, 2021. My spouse, Aaron and I will spend the week with my in-laws and their family. There will be only one posting that week, the date for the entry is Monday, November 22, 2021.
I will resume posting here after that week on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, with the Bottoms-Up! November, 2021 entry on that day.
The winter holidays during the month of December, 2021, will be similar. My final holiday posting will publish on December 13, 2021, and will resume with the Bottoms-Up! entry on December 31, 2021.
Until the announced breaks in the schedule, I plan to post here as usual.
To all of those observing the Thanksgiving celebration: happy Thanksgiving!
Take care and stay bare!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, November 15, 2021, and the proposed topic is “Commando!”
Initially, Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, was observed in honor of the cease-fire between the Allies and the Germans that brought an unofficial end of the Great War (World War I). The peace treaty that officially ceased hostilities wasn’t signed by all participatory governments until 1919. The Treaty of Versailles was signed by the victorious and the defeated on June 28, 1919, the fifth anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which triggered the beginning of the conflict.
The earliest Armistice Day commemorations served as a solemn occasion for the countries involved in the Great War to remember those who were killed during the fighting. Up until that war, the number of soldiers deceased had never reached that massive number. The figure did not include the civilians who were also exterminated by the conflict – whether through revolution or the actual war.
The United Kingdom and the Commonwealth soon officially entitled the observance as Remembrance Day and all sacrificed military personnel are honored on the occasion. Those who died during World War II and subsequent wars are honored on the same ceremony. Gradually, the date has evolved from November 11, to a day where it is featured as a three-day weekend.
Most of Europe has also adjusted the observance date for the longer weekend. They continue to refer to the celebration as Armistice Day.
In the USA, it is named Veteran’s Day and honors all of those who served in the military in defending the country.
Of course, there remain solemn ceremonies throughout the world to commemorate the sacrifices made by many in the service of their country and crown. The quarantines that accompanied the recent coronavirus COVID-19 outbreaks seriously impacted the attendance at the many memorials but did not eradicate the intended ceremony entirely.
The poppy is a flower that grows in abundance in the Flanders area of Belgium. For this reason, countless graves of those who died were adorned with poppies due to there accessibility and availability. No one needed to purchase them to place them on a grave. It was a small token of the tribute that fellow soldiers gave to those fallen. This accounted for the widespread affection the poppy gained by all of the belligerents during the Great War (World War I).
This year marks the centennial year of the red poppy as the symbol of eternal tribute to the lives lost in honor. In 1921, the British Legion (now the Royal British Legion) officially adopted the red poppy to sell to the public to raise funds for the Earl Haig family survivors fund. This year also returns the Two-Minute Silence (on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month) the official date and time the original Armistice Day took effect.
In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
to you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae was the son of Scottish immigrants and born in Guelph, Ontario. Canada, in 1872. In May, 1915, he was serving as a physician in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in Flanders, Belgium. On May 2, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, a Canadian field artillery officer and a close friend of McCrae was killed in the Second Battle of Ypres. Shortly afterwards, McCrae wrote the above poem in memory of his friend and honoring all the war dead.
The poem was first published on December 8, 1915, in London, UK, in the satire magazine Punch. It was immediately popular as a fitting tribute and widely circulated and reprinted.
It is worthy to note that the tribute paid to all those lost through war is absolutely not an endorsement of warfare or the practice of conflict. It is simply honoring those who died of no fault of their won.
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, November 12, 2021, and the proposed topic is: “November Footnote!”
ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers! 