A very good day

I can't think of consecutive days being more different than my Sunday and Monday were.

On Monday, we were short-handed at the paper, plus we had a 22-page paper to put together (swollen by election ads). So it was very labor-intensive for the two of us here. We got it done, but it was really stressful and took a lot longer than normal.

Once I got home, my wife and I immediately got in our car to visit my mom. We hadn't seen her in over a week, and it will be at least a week until we get our next chance, due to this week's trip to the Detroit area. That starts on Thursday. We leave that morning and return on Sunday. Each leg is about 520 miles.

One thing I know, however. Unlike most of my recent trips below the bridge (in the Lower Peninsula), I won't have to worry about snow.

But if Monday was very tense and demanding, Sunday was just the opposite. I had talked to S and her husband on Saturday night, and they told me that despite the unpromising forecast, the weather wasn't going to be as bad as the forecast said. They said they really wanted to make the trip--especially for her husband's sake, since he had really been working extra hard (extra hours) over the last week and needed a complete break.

We agreed to meet at a Subway restaurant at about 11:30 a.m. I left home at about 8:30 (after making a fast run to the store for some milk--we ran out the night before, and I was thinking I could just pick some up Sunday since I probably wasn't going anywhere). I got there about 15 minutes late, but nobody was in a hurry. I got my sub, ate half of it and then we all left for the clothing-optional place, which was about half an hour away.

It's actually just a farm, one of many in that area. We parked at the end of the driveway, about 100 yards off the road, unloaded their trunk (They planned to stay overnight.) and started setting up their tent. They gave me a very brief tour.

The place is smaller than I had expected. Old farm buildings on two sides. A picnic table with a big umbrella. Inside a shed were some inflatable rafts. But it had everything I saw on the website--a flush toilet outside, a shower heated by solar power, a sink and another outlet for water. Several cleared areas for people to camp. Plenty of space to park. By now, a few mosquitoes had noticed my arrival (I had evidence of that), so I found the bug spray.

The sun was mostly out by now, it was warm (about 80) all of us were a little hot and sweaty from putting up the tent and moving things around. So, without further ado, we all undressed outside, put our stuff inside the tent and walked to the pond, a distance of maybe 50 yards. We had taken a couple of the rafts--S and her husband got the first shot at them, while I simply waded out. We were the only ones there at the time.

The pond was smaller than expected--the beach was about 50 feet across, and the pond extended out about 100-120 feet. It gradually got deeper--max depth is about 10 feet. Along the other three sides, it was all reeds and cattails, with blackbirds singing and dragonflies flitting about, frogs and toads singing. Really nice and relaxing. I later got a chance at one of the rafts and had to remember how to navigate one of those things while keeping my center of gravity in place.

S had been saying earlier that she wasn't as well centered (healthwise) as she wanted to be. So when she got on the raft, I held it in place. Her legs slipped back towards me, off the raft and into the shallow water. I thought that was a good time to remind her of her remark about not being well centered. She laughed.

We were there about 45 minutes, then returned to the barns/tent area, where we ate some chips and drank some drinks--sodas and beers and talked. And that's how we spent the next few hours. S warned me that my lower legs were looking a little pink, so I seated myself with the legs in the shade--at least until the sun moved around, looking for me. I had put some sunscreen on my arms, legs, chest and neck, and S took care of my shoulders and back.

It was nice. Warm but not humid. Mostly sunny. Sitting around nude outside seemed to make perfect sense. I know this is something most of you haven't done, and some of you think that it must be very sexy. In fact, it's the opposite--the normal (swimsuit) beaches are much sexier than a nude beach, with young people wearing skimpy, sexy suits. That's cool. You don't find too many younger people at a nude beach. Like at the pagan camp, they were in their 40s and 50s. S and her husband are in their early 50s, and I'm in my late 50s. We're all a little overweight and lumpy in places. But we accept ourselves the way we are, and we know that our true beauty is inside. The kind that lasts. The kind that matters. It's not sexy. It's just natural and pure and wonderfully comfortable. Ever sit around on a sunny day in a wet swimsuit?

One other woman used the beach after we left, and she stopped back by us later. She seemed to be in her 60s, deeply tanned. A little overweight, but so what? She had a tattoo above one of her breasts--and on the right side of her back was large tattoo with unicorns, fairies and nymphs. She said she plans to have the other half done this November while her husband is away, hunting deer. I should have taken a picture, but the camera bag was back on the beach. (For what it's worth, the only photos I took there were attempts at dragonflies (failure) and tadpoles in the pond.)

The guy who owns the place came around and showed us the back, where a friend is keeping two pigs. Small pigs. He tried calling the pigs out, but they stayed in the bushes. Later, when the friend arrived, he called, and the pigs came right out--seems he works at a restaurant in Green Bay, and he brings them goodies. And if you want to know what's in store for the pigs, consider their names: Ham and Bacon.

They had a dog there named Lady--a nice gentle dog--and an old, old beagle named Bashful. Bashful makes the craziest bass noises. Sort of like growling, really low. S told me the first time they stayed there, they heard this low growl outside in the middle of the night, and she thought there was a bear outside.

So Lady enjoyed the sun, and Bashful mostly stayed under the table. S went to the tent and brought out her guitar and sang a few songs, including "One Tin Soldier"--don't remember hearing her sing before. Wish I had taken that picture, too.

The sun was getting lower. I dug out the other half of my sub from the cooler, ate that, then went to the tent for my clothes and shoes and got dressed. It was time to go. Hugs all around, and then I was on my way.

I ran into a brief line of storms on the way back home; aside from that, the trip was uneventful, and I got home about 10:20 p.m. It was a very good day.

Her husband is taking some vacation time in early August, and if I can, they'd like me to come down again. Maybe this time I could stay overnight. It's something I'm thinking about.

But summer is running down. We've got the trip this week. A week later, my son wants to go to the Central Wisconsin Fair near Wausau--about 2 1/2 hours away. That's about when they have their vacation, but I may be able to get off in the middle of the week. One week later, football practice starts, and summer will be essentially over for me.

I know that the clock is ticking down. So I've got to make the most of the time that remains. Hopefully, there will be another one like Sunday.