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According to USAToday the California Supreme Court has decided that it will no longer allow nude sunbathing on California beaches. I find it interesting that this happened in what is probably considered the most “free-thinking” state in the country. I’ve been on California beaches before. When some of the young and fabulous have on their “swim suits” they are a lot closer to being naked than not so I don’t see what the problem really is.
California has a zillion miles of coastline. If a group of folks want to bare it all in a secluded place I don’t see the problem. I’ve read a lot of comments on sites that have posted this story. Some say that those of us who are no longer taut and super toned should be isolated away from public view as not to offend their eyes. Perhaps I should start a Club Med for the soft or celluite set on Devil’s Island somewhere far from contemptuous eyes. A place where those folks could enjoy a beach without being pointed at.
Little do these young and judgemental realize that they too, like most of us will probably succumb to the ravages of age, gravity and excesses. (A few people are able to escape those ravages, but they are in the minority). One person who I think looks fabulous for her age is Raquel Welch. I just looked her up on IMDB. She is 68!!! I’m sure she’s had work done but she doesn’t have the Joan Rivers alienesque look. I think she might have some of the youth potion from the movie Death Becomes Her. Or maybe she’s a pod person from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Who really looks like that at 68?
Hippie Hollow on Lake Travis about 20 miles outside Austin has been a famous clothing optional park for as long as I can remember. It was there when I went to UT and I had a body to die for. (That was in a parallel universe in a land far, far away). I just never felt the need to go. However, I also have never felt the need to go railing about like Carrie Nation to advocate shutting it down. If people want to swim naked and they’re not hurting anybody so what? It’s not like Lake Travis doesn’t have a lot of other coastline, it does. That’s what confuses me about the hub-bub in California. They have 840 miles of coastline.
What’s the big deal? I mean I don’t enjoy the sight of a woman wearing a black mesh swimsuit that is 4 sizes too small for her so she looks like a ham more than anybody else. However, the last time I looked it was still a free county. Evelyn and I were at the gym recently and there was a man in the pool wearing a Speedo. He had made an unfortunate fashion choice for sure, but we did we survive? Of course. Besides if only the beautiful people were allowed at the beaches and the pools what would everybody have to talk about? “Did you see that water today?” Please. (You know you all do it). When I was 5 and in the pool at a motel a hirsuite guy popped up next to me with his back to me. I said “Monkey!” I wasn’t trying to be mean. His back was so hairy I thought he was a monkey at first. That story has been told for 50+ years now.
Although I’ve never been to a nude beach or park I’ve seen documentaries about them. From what I can tell they are a lot less sexual than most beaches where the women walk around in thongs made from three pieces of dental floss braided together. When I was at Club Med almost 30 years ago it was “tops optional” on their beach. After the first quick “Did you see that?”, it was no big deal. There were kids at Club Med playing on the beach next to with women sans tops. (The kids didn’t even seem to notice). The only time my top has ever come off was when I was body surfing at that very resort and a freak wave dislodged by swimsuit top. I dropped beneath the water immediately and repositioned the girls so they were covered. That was just my hangup though. Nobody there would’ve cared a whit.
Years ago when getting a dark tan was all the rage I’d undo my top while laying out by the pool so I wouldn’t have strap marks. I laid out in the sun everyday and played spades all summer when I stayed in Austin to go to summer school. By the time I went home in late August I looked Hispanic I was so dark. These days though if you’re Anglo and you get a dark tan people just assume you’re ignorant. Besides with the economy the way it is, I can’t afford to buy the enormous amount of sunscreen I’d need to keep everything from turning bright red after a day of naked frolicking. That’s a good thing- trust me on that.
You are such a witch, because every time I go to the pool to do water aerobics, you bring up that speedo guy, insisting that I’m waiting with bated breath in hopes of seeing that spectacle again! The thought of it is enough to stop me from exercising and it doesn’t take much!
You know you’d be all over that if you weren’t married. Besides that excuse won’t work anyway. Back to pool manana, crone.
For what it’s worth: I’ve been in California off and on for over 30 years. California USED TO BE one of the most liberal states in the country. Today, however, it’s full of stodgy old curmudgeons who were the very same liberals when they got here 30 years ago, smoked tons of pot, wore beads and bellbottoms and raged against the ‘establishment’. Go figure. It’s a sad state of affairs, to be sure. But then…maybe all those old hoots are just trying to get people to LEAVE the state rather than entice new folks moving in. Whatever the case, I say to each his own. Personally, I’ve been to Black’s Beach (La Jolla) and while it was thrilling the first time (back when I was 18), I was inclined to keep my suit on. Sand in strange places…and all that jazz.
I agree and in my case, I might wind up with a hermit crab trying to find a new home.