Let this be a lesson to ya…

I recently spent some time at Cougar Hot Springs. The pools were much hotter than the last time I was there and the air temperature was about 85 degrees. After about an hour at the spring, I decided it was just too hot and that a dip in the Lagoon was called for.

The water was just great. I must have spent at least a half hour swimming, natural of course. I got out and decided to air dry while sitting on a stump.

You’ve got to realize that this stump was weathered and had obviously spent a lot of time under water. The surface was cut flat and I thought a perfect place to sit in the sun. What I didn’t notice was that in spite of the apparent age of the stump, the top had pitch on it and as I got off I discovered I carried some of it away on a certain portion of my anatomy.

Imagine, if you will, my wife’s amusement when I explained the sticky situation to her. With grace, dignity and a whole lot of laughter she offered to rub cooking oil on the sticky mess to get the pitch off. With me leaning over the bed in the travel trailer we discovered I had gobs of pitch in my hair in places I didn’t even know I had places.

So let my em-bare-ass-ment be a lesson to you and print out the little poem below to help you remember to never sit unprotected upon a stump.

Nudeling

If you would set bare upon the stump,
Be sure that you protect your rump.
For if you don’t then you may find
You trail a sticky mess behind.
And laughter will surely fill your house,
And you’ll need help from your giggling spouse.

Nude Hiking and Families with Kids

Recently, when discussing nude hiking (Free Hiking) in several of the Yahoo groups, it was expressed by several people that they were concerned about meeting families with children on the trail so they don’t hike nude. I’m not sure why these folks were concerned. Perhaps they think being nude in front of children is not appropriate. Perhaps they think the parents might be offended and cause trouble.

As far as the parents are concerned, I say so what. I don’t go out of my way to offend but am not overly concerned that I may do so. I do carry a wrap with me to cover up. If the parents are personally offended by my nudity I think it’s time they grow up. If the parents are concerned about their kids, I think they should learn a bit more about their kids. It’s my experience that when confronted with nudity kids tend to shrug it off and continue going about the things that kids do.

My wife and I were recently at a clothing optional hot spring where there were about 15 kids from about 5-15 years old, both boys and girls. My wife and I were the only ones nude. We were actually nude and in the pool before we realized we were the only ones. For a bit the kids kind of gave us sideways glances but after a short time they just went back to doing the things kids do. It was no bid deal to them.

I’m not going to hike on really popular trails nude but when I seek out a little used trail and the weather’s right you can be sure I’ll be nude. Should I come upon some families with kids I’m going to just wrap up and move on by. If the adults start to give me a bad time, I’m going to just move on without saying much. If they want to get physical, I do carry pepper spray. There is no law against nudity in Oregon as long as the reason for being nude is not to excite yourself or others. Nude is not lewd.