30 Years ago, in the back of a girlie magazine from the "dirty book store",
we found a classified ad for information on a nudist resort. To Al, it seemed
like the right thing in the interest of research and enlightenment to send away for information
(it was free - except for the 3-cent stamp). To Norma, it was just another
screwball notion that required humoring to prevent his sulking and pouting,
and nothing would ever come of it.
Well, the literature came, and just look at all these rules:
No drinking / no touching / no gawking / no fun at all! Look at
their (AHA) motto: "A clean mind and a healthy body". They swim and
play volleyball. Sounds like the perfect place. Norma was not impressed.
Dismissed the whole idea as another far-out, goofy notion.
After plenty of begging and pleading, she conceded that it might be O.K.
to
just drive by on a week day while the kids were in school and take a look
around, figuring that Al would surely chicken-out.
Upon arriving at the gate, with hearts pounding, we rang the bell; no
answer; whew - off the hook - so much for nudism. After driving around
for an hour or so, returned to try the bell one more time - this time
bold and confident (surely, they were closed!). When the stump next
to the gate answered - almost had a heart attack. Well, here we were - at
the end of a one-lane drive with no place to turn around. And here came this
little lady to welcome us (at least she had her clothes on!).
As we sat in the clubhouse doing the paperwork thing - another couple
came in. They were NAKED - couldn't they see that we were new? Why did
they have to walk right past us that way? And then, they even spoke.
"Come on out and play shuffleboard when you get settled in". Damn -
there was no way out now! Where were the locker rooms? What do we do
next? PANIC!! Then, matter-of-factly, our hostess said, "There's the
parking lot up there on the hill - go up there and get into uniform!"
We hadn't counted on having to get naked on our first visit. Oh my, now
we're in trouble!
To make a long story longer - we struggled out of our clothes - and
there we were nervous and naked! Gee - nobody was staring, the sun and
air really felt great, and the folks that we met seemed very friendly and
acted completely normal, just like nothing was unusual. Wow - nudity! what
a concept. Ten minutes later - our only question: "Why didn't we do this a
long time ago"?
The rest is history.
In today's computer age, there are so many more ways that folks can gather
information and learn what we are all about. We are glad for them and hope
that ever-increasing numbers will accept the nudist lifestyle.
One thing must certainly be the same; that awful feeling of doubt and panic
at that first moment of "getting into uniform". We hope that we will never
forget that day that our newfound friends were so relaxed, friendly and
reassuring. We hope that we can return the favor, many times over.
