I grew up here in Florida before air conditioning really caught on with the natives.  Those of you who have spent much time in Florida know how hot and humid it is down here most of the year.  As a kid, I wondered how much more comfortable we would be if we didn't have to wear clothing all the time.  After all, when the explorers came to Florida, they noted that the natives were usually  nude (as they were in most warm climates around the world).

Instead, I grew up indoctrinated like everyone else to be extremely self-conscious about my body and to dread being even shirtless when "everyone else" wasn't also.  Not to mention the trauma of school gym showers!  Still, it seemed that all this "body conscienceness" was somehow irrational, unnatural, and more than a bit perverse.  Come on, would millions of years of evolution lead a species to find shame in its own form?  I think my parents did a good job of trying to give me a healthy view of it, but they did their duty when it came to teaching me how to survive in today's culture.

I came of age and was further indoctrinated with the notion that nude bodies were inherently erotic (especially female ones), and that society reserves and restricts nudity to mostly sexual settings.  The remaining situations (communal showers, doctor visits, etc.) were to be tolerated at best, and then only when absolutely necessary.  As kids, we satisfied our curiosity about the human body with X-rated material, associating all those bizarre pictures of (just so happened to be naked) women with our trumped up fantasies.  Even as adults, nudity in films and "adult entertainment" is almost always associated with sex.  Pavlov would be proud!  I'm sure the "primitive" pre-colonial Floridians would find all this as foreign to human nature, as we should.

After leaving home, I found myself sleeping and studying in the nude when it was hot out and there was no risk of being "discovered'.  Not that being "caught" bothered me so much, but I didn't want to put anyone on the other end placed in such an awkward situation.  Those times seemed perfectly natural and served as an escape from the burden of the outside world. Being naked seemed less and less forbidden, and more and more "normal".

In my early 20's, I stumbled across a few isolated areas during long hikes, and tried to sunbathe in the nude a few times (why not?).  But every airplane overhead, every rustle of leaves, or even the slightest sound might have been a person who might not be very understanding.  I figured that I didn't want to put myself or anyone else in that situation and passed it off as another of life's experiences.  It just wasn't worth it.

In my mid 20's, I was in San Diego on business, was going to be in town over the weekend, and overheard some people talking about directions to "Black's Beach".  I vaguely had heard that Black's was a nude beach, and figured what the heck, I was thousands of miles from anyone that knew me.  I could always chicken out (my usual mode), but I could at least keep my suit on and see what it's all about.

At the end of the trail was this long beach with thousands of people on it.  The mix of people seemed to be, by my notion, typical Southern Californian.  A happy mix of families, surfers, volleyball players, and various "colorful types".   But almost all of them were naked.  This seemed perfectly normal to them, and you wouldn't know it from any other beach if it weren't for that.

Ok, I had all day.  I kept my suit on and settled in at the fringe near some harmless looking families.  Situation normal. Very normal.  Nobody cared if I was there, clothed or not.  After a very nervous an hour or so, I removed the suit, rolled on my stomach, and hoped nothing would happen.  It didn't.  I finally got to the point of rolling on my back, then sitting up.  Hey, this is great!  It wasn't until much later that I dared walk down to the water for some body surfing.  Great waves (campared to Florida) and no sand in the suit!  By the end of the day, I was walking down the beach, enjoying myself.

It was (and sometimes still is) a very strange "I'm ok, You're ok" feeling:  Tall, short, fat, skinny, young, old, male, female, rich, poor, black, white, or otherwise.  Simple, plain, normal, unpretentious people.  For every reason why a uniform is a good idea in certain professions, the uniform God gave us wears well enough on people.

The biggest surprise is that there was nothing erotic about it.  Being a normal healthy young male, I had my doubts about whether I could keep from being aroused by the situation.  I was more aroused by my own nervousness in the beginning.   But, very quickly, the thought of my not being aroused seemed only amusing.   Not that there wasn't some very beautiful women around.   I'm about as horny as any guy, but beauty alone wasn't arousing.  Nor was lack of beauty any less interesting.

That day was very special and enlightening, but years went by before I'd try something like that again.  One day I saw a copy of  "World Guide to Nude Beaches & Resorts" (highly recommended) in a bookstore.  I was as nervous as a kid buying Playboy for the first time as I brought it to the counter.

I used the book to look up nude beaches as I traveled for work or on vacation, and I visited a few along the way. Work took me to the midwest a lot, where I looked up Mazo Beach in Wisconsin.  I've always found the people of the midwest to be a very friendly lot, but this place takes the cake.  A mostly young crowd from nearby Madison (college students and professors) on the banks of Wisconsin River.  Federal property, where it's perfectly legal and safe.

I visited Mazo every chance I could. You'd really have to try hard to be a stranger there.  They practically drag you into the volleyball games.  Curious canoeists pass by (the place is no secret), but you'd think they were just looking at some new bird species or something.  Once, a large church youth group canoed by and had their silent curiosity greeted by sincere invitations for a "shirts and skins" volleyball game.  They took us up on it, and several games later we were a mixed crowd talking, playing, and laughing with only our obvious clothing choices differentiating us.  I can't help but think that God was up there smiling.  It was magic for both groups.  Just good people, having a good time.

I live near one of the most used nude beaches in the US, Playalinda at the nearby Canaveral National Seashore.  But, it took several years before I could bring up the courage to go there.  Someone might recognize the car.  My name and address in the local paper under "indecent exposure".  Never mind that were are no laws against nudity on federal property, and no recent problems with the rangers.  So, for a while I decided to look elsewhere for some place to go when not traveling.

I heard of a place called Haulover Beach near Miami Beach in south Florida.  A three hours drive, but worth a try. Far enough away, but doable.  You arrive, pay your parking fee ($3.50), and venture out like at any other urban beach.  Condos surround the place, the highway is just beyond the bushes, lifeguards, police making routine rounds.  Nothing unusual except a huge portion has signs marking a section as a designated nude beach (on the other side, a warning that bathers must be clothed outside the designated area).

No problem.  Very south Florida international flavor.  Metro Dade patrols often enough to show a "presence", and the support group there patrols (in the nude) with cell phones to call the police back at any sign of trouble.  A great beach by any standard.  I could not resist but join the group that made it possible (South Florida Free Beaches).  A job well done, and a model for other cities.  No other nude beach has that kind of support from local government.  Before going CO (Clothing Optional) Haulover was a dying beach in a dying area.  Now the local hotels advertise their proximity in national magazines, and Dade county is somewhat embarrassed by how much money they take in with parking fees.

Playalinda has not been so fortunate.  Though a much larger beach (18 miles of undeveloped seashore), the last supervisor of the seashore tried to get the state to come in, and finally now has the local sheriff raid the beach under a fairly new county law (being challenged).  Between challenges, the beach is wonderful.  People gather in the same remote area where they have for decades.  The group, Central Florida Naturists (CFN), is fighting for a designated area for hassle free use. I enjoy going there, but shy away when the Radical Right is on the march, forcing raids by local law enforcement (who probably would rather be elsewhere).

I joined SFFB and CFN to support their efforts.  Along with their membership, I joined the American Sunbathing Association (ASA, now American Association for Nude Recreation - AANR).  AANR is the major association of nudist resorts and camps.  With it, you're welcome at a discount as a visitor in most of the nude resorts and camps.  Single males are sometimes discouraged (even not allowed entry) at some places in order to maintain "gender balance".  So much for acceptance, but most places are growing out such "cliquish" ways.

Since then, I've visited many of the resorts here in Florida (and there are many).  A great alternative to the beach, and for many people more accessible.  I usually visit one of a few nearby clubs when a get a weekend day or so free. A great get away opportunity with some pretty open, interesting, and friendly people.

Nowadays, I'm nude around the house whenever I'm settled in for a while.  Someday, I'll have a private enough backyard for nude swimming and sunbathing.  I don't want to bother or offend anyone, but I don't feel any shame for wanting to be comfortable with myself and others.  The only role I like playing is myself -- and I don't mind dressing the part.

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Last Modified January 10, 1999 (Link updates). rick407@oocities.com