Musing on Another Summer's Beginning

 May 2022

We are almost half way thrugh another strange year, one in which our ways of life have been up-ended and in other instances slowly returning to normal...depending on what one considers "normal"...

For me personally, it means spending hours reading research books, cruising the internet for more current sources, and tracking down viable information on naturism/nudism in history, social attitudes about nudity, and the legal aspects of living life naked...and doing it while nude.

As the weather slowly warms I am enjoying the freedom that happens when school lets out and I can shed my clothing for days or even weeks at a time. This is the time to enjoy naked weekends with like-minded friends, go sailing nude on the Great Lakes, and allow my entire body to enjoy the sun and fresh air. Being nude is my "happy place", where I shed the expectations of an up-tight world and enjoy being myself for as long as possible before returning to the "real world" and its expectations. 

So what are my days like?

Like yours, except for being nude :)

I clean the litter boxes, feed the cats, cook for myself, do laundry, watch television and do my research. I try to do all my errands (which require being clothed) in one shot/one trip away from home as quickly as possible so I can get back home and strip down to bare skin again.

When I need to go to work, I dress like anyone else and strip down again as soon as I get home...winter, spring, summer, or fall, I follow that same routine. When friends come to visit they call first to warn me to get dressed though many of them will also strip down to bare skin while we socialize, play cards, or watch movies together. It is a level of acceptance that many people never achieve. My habits may be catching on as many of them confess to spending more of their time at home in the nude now.

The thing to remember is that historically, living life in the nude has been seen as an aberration and in some case as an abomination. Some groups, like the Adamites of medieval times, were hunted down after being ostracized and many burned as witches. Religion made judgements about the natural body created by God and set inhumane standards and laws that required destruction of those who would live as Adam and Eve in the Garden. They placed very strict rules on that which God did not clothe upon their creation. Those inhumane standards of "acceptable behavior" are still placed on the human body by the Religious Right and they in turn influence secular law against bodily freedoms.

I, for one, and for many of my like-minded friends would like to see Eden and its bodily freedom make a comeback...the world would be a much more peaceful place if we could be naked, live naked, wherever and whenever we wanted.

A Year of Changes 2022

 This year was definitely off-kilter due to the ongoing pandemic. I am still teaching via zoom, but doing so from my campus office...which, of course, forces the Naked Historian to be clothed :P At least by the time the Spring semester closed, we have been able to dispense with masks and are tested every month for COVID at the campus clinic. I have had my initial vaccinations as well as 2 boosters so I have been lucky so far. One of my friends caught it at work and then passed it to her husband while in quarantine, and lucked out with it being like a bad head cold and a mild cough for both of them. She went back to work this week.

I survived my semester which had one regular zoom class of 13 students, and an independent study with one student whose goal is to become a history teacher. My grade books went in last week. My next semester will require a 5 day work week with 3 regular courses ( all either zoom or zoom/classroom combo), 1 of which will be via zoom from a smart classroom linked with advance placement students in 8 area high schools. I am currently writing their course work and schedules.

I also have been taking time out for my own research into historical nudism, this time following the medical/health aspects of spending time in the nude as studied in Europe before World War 2, and how the Freikorpur Kultur (FKK) nudist groups of Germany fared during the Great Depression and while under Nazi control. It is lovely having so much research able to be done online or via inter-library loan as it only seems right to research nudism while living as much of my life as possible naked.

This summer will allow me to spend time naked with friends and take a few days off to go nude sailing on the Great Lakes. Being part of an all nude crew is just the best time on the water. It also allows me to talk with like-minded people about our lifestyle and the changes wrought by politics and pandemics. As many of us are also academics, it helps to have a safe place to vent as well.

My next posting will be more in the vein of my research as it is enlightening to see how society changed its views of nudism over time and how some groups never will. The contrasts are quite interesting.

Until then (hopefully less than 3 months wait this time!) Stay naked, stay happy, and stay healthy!

2020: A Year to Both Remember and Forget

July 31st, 2020

Over half the year is gone, decimated by pandemic illness, unjust murders, protestors and federal agents arresting the innocent and hiding their faces in the process. Politically, the country is in turmoil because of the madman at the helm who has almost single-handedly destroyed America's standing in the world...

My career has shifted mightily as the pandemic closed schools and moved classes to the internet with a week's notice. My students suffered from the changeover and I fear they will drop out rather than work with the new sychronous online schedule set for the fall semester. I will be teaching to a camera from an empty classroom, with my students attending via a Zoom meeting rooms until such time as it is safe to return to campus. (My courses have been reworked to allow going back to the classroom if it is allowed mid-semester.) My college shifted us to online coursework on March 17th, but did not require video to finish the spring semester, so I worked online with students via email and instant messenger with their assignments and my lecture power-points downloaded to the college LMS (Blackboard, a Learning Management System). So for the last half of the semester, I worked from home.

Is/Was there an upside to the "world turning upside-down"?

Yes. I spent half of my semester (mid-term to finals) teaching in the nude. Though I will not be able to do real-time lectures naked next semester due to video, the LMS work and e-communications can be handled from home sans clothing. So, September to December will be spent working clothed for about 7 hours per week, and then doing my other 20 hours in the nude from home. It could be worse, right?

Spring semester ended on May 7th, and unfortunately, the graduation ceremonies were cancelled on the governor's order. The shutdown and "shelter-in-place" order has meant staying home, and leaving the house only to grocery shop and run errands for about 4 hours every other week...for which I dress like any other person with a mask in my neck of the woods. I also dress plus mask for taking a walk around my long small town block weather permitting. However, I have been extremely fortunate to spend most of my time, since coming home from work on March 17th, buck naked.

The many hours spent happily in the nude has improved my skin, I am generally healthier than I've been for awhile, and the boredom eating stopped fairly quickly. Consequently, I had added 6 lbs, but have now managed to drop 12. I am more active around the house when I am nude and it is rather fun to use my exercise bike in the nude, too...I average 5 miles per day on my nearly antique Schwinn Aer-dyne. So, I hope everyone is having a wonderful naked respite from the "real world" and as soon as I have my fall courses set up, I will be back to researching nudism in history as my bookcase of research materials is calling me :)

Have a wonderful naked summer!

Many Changes in a Short Period of Time

It has been a strange six months for the Naked Historian...

First was the health scare, followed by a multitude of tests and procedures, followed by a summer of living in a construction zone, and just as life was getting back to something close to normal...there is a world pandemic!

The college I work for has forced all our classes to an online platform and cancelled spring graduation ceremonies, plus closing both campuses for the duration. While my county has seen only 8 cases of the virus here, and no deaths, we are still included in the state-wide social isolation shutdown. Consequently, I am teaching online, using power-points and discussion boards, as well as written assignments to try and make sure my students all pass their respective courses...and in the process, building my courses into that platform for future online units as well as in-class sessions of my classes.

BUT...and it is a big one....

This crazy whirlwind has fulfilled a long-held dream for me, one I have had ever since I started teaching: I can actually teach in the nude (and not worry about losing my job!). I also teach world history and was just launching in to the changes wrought by the Black Plague of 1348-1349, so I can compare it to the current pandemic...

The high point though, is that except for grocery shopping once a week, I have been living completely naked and relishing the freedom for as long as it lasts. I am also still researching nudism and naturism as lifestyle in historic Europe, so I will hopefully have some new blogs up sooner than later.

For now, all of you who are stuck at home due to the rampant pandemic...spend as much time as possible in the nude, take time to grow comfortable with your body, use the time to get healthy and finally be able to live life without even thinking about whether you are clothed or not...just keep it legal!

Until next time,
Me
* the naked lady at the computer

Summer at Home

So, we are officially past the halfway point of summer, and it has been an eventful one. In June, my 18 year old truck gasped its last and went to the scrap yard, leaving me without transportation. At first, I was horrified until I realized the potential for spending 99% of the summer totally nude!

In the interest of "research", I chose to log the amount of time spent nude each day and figure out the grand total at the end of the month...I really surprised myself! It worked out like this:

Total days in July =        744.0 hours (31 days)
Total days/hours nude = 584.5 hours (24.35 days)
Total hours clothed =      159.5 hours (6.65 days)

It was a marvelous month! The odd but constant pain subsided significantly, as did the persistant itching. I was clothed only for traveling to and fro when invited to spend a day sailing on the St. Lawrence River with equally nude companions...and the few days which I had to spend clothed except for sleep proved uncomfortable and left me depressed.

Now, we have turned the calendar to August, which for me is a short month for enjoying total nudity. School starts again before the end of the month, which means diving now into the preparations for a new group of students...and deciding on the appropriate clothing for this teacher to wear daily...

Thank heavens for being able to strip to nature's best suit as soon as I get home...I will miss the summer freedom though.

We're Having a Heat Wave!

It is July so it is only to be expected, but when it is uncomfortable even being naked? Well, let's just say "Mother Nature needs a Snickers!".

The last two weeks started in the 80s, nice and comfortable with a few days of cooling evening showers...until last Friday when the temperatures began to climb. By Sunday, it was extremely humid and 98 degrees, with a heat index of 105...at that point not only did it hurt to wear clothes but being naked meant dripping with sweat! There's a reason we nudists always carry a towel with them and this past week has been proof.

So, all the drapes are drawn, the ceiling fans turned on and floor fans to keep the air moving...and the house is a comfortable, dry, 80 degrees again. The beauty of it being to hot to go out and mingle with the textile world has meant a long period of being nude at home. That time has been well-utilized in getting grounded and finding my center again, as well as allowing me to spend happy hours in research.

If I could say anything important to any casual reader who finds this blog, it would be that spending time nude doing the same everyday things that one does each day clothed, means one can really breathe and relax into what needs to be done with much less stress on the emotional and physical body. Allowing your skin to breathe freely will reduce blood pressure, calm stress and anxiety, and really allow complete relaxation, and sleeping naked reinforces that "feel good" mood.

Ahhhh...Sumer Is a-cumin' in!

Finally, summer break is here! This is the time when I can shed not just the cares of the school year, but my clothes as well. It has been a long cold winter and it is finally sunny, clear and comfortably hot up here in the north.

Personally, I can finally relax and be myself even if it means staying indoors until I can get away for a nudist weekend. Thankfully, I can say that I have been comfortably naked now for 11 days straight, with no plans of putting on anything other than shoes for at least a month.

This summer I will be turning to more research on historical nudity as an element of religion and family life, as well as the psychological benefits of living a nudist lifestyle (even in a repressed society). I am also considering writing light fiction about the nudist lifestyle and my introduction to it. At the same time, I will be experimenting with various forms of exercise and what works best if/when done fully nude.

As much as this is a history blog, it is also a way to keep myself accountable for my findings, my successes, and my failures in melding my public persona and my home nudist lifestyle.