The Effable Joy of Nudity Pt. 08

We all wore hats or visors. Most of us had had the foresight to bring proper hiking shoes, and someone had thoughtfully arranged to have pairs available for the rest (probably borrowed from Lakeside residents). The weather was already hot and sunny, so we women made a particular effort to lather ourselves in sunscreen lotion. Those who still had tan-lines naturally took special care to protect breasts and pubes. Under a cloudless sky we shone like bronze statues.

Our route took us through all four university precincts. We began with a circuit of the residential district, then the recreational zone where a korfball tournament was in progress. This is a game like basketball or netball, with both males and females playing together on the same court, four of each sex. (It's fun and should be more popular!) The male players wore shirts in team colours and the females were distinguished by coloured garters. But there was one squad of girls who had actual uniforms, albeit bikini-style. From their colour scheme I recognized them as from a nearby university.

Throughout the entire time we encountered no more than a handful of women wearing clothes. During the semester there would be more; but as this was the summer vacation almost all females -- students, academic and support personnel, visitors -- were naked. Outside one of the maintenance depots, an engineering supervisor with a clipboard and walkie-talkie was giving out instructions to her crew of a dozen or so mostly males. And it was a charming tableau, of a woman in heavy-duty workboots and gloves, wearing a hard hat with safety goggles slung around her neck, but otherwise in the buff, giving orders to men in blue overalls and orange "hi-viz" vests. I noticed a small stack of similar vests nearby. Workplace health and safety regulations require them, but the boss and her female staff don't put them on until it's necessary. In fact, when we doubled back to this area sometime later I saw them wearing the vests, with nothing on underneath it nor below the waist. And in a way that was the most sexualized image of the entire morning, because it seemed so gratuitous. If women have to wear anything, it's the absolute minimum.

We also encountered a couple of security guards, male and female; and despite being accustomed by now to ubiquitous nudity, I found it a little disconcerting to see the woman wearing a utility belt with the usual accoutrements and nothing else. For while most of their duties are innocuous, I wonder how the women cope with the occasional physical demands of the job. Anyway, there were other sights, interesting and bizarre as well as more mundane. Of course what qualifies as mundane on this campus is not so much elsewhere.

The entire tour took about two hours, and it was invigorating to be soaking up the sunlight and savouring the balmy breeze, with nothing interposed between the elements and my body. It gives a special, very agreeable meaning to the term au naturel. The journey ended with a stop in the Village, the commercial district, where we dispersed, bought coffee and made our way back to Lakeside Hall individually or in small groups.

After lunch the first conference session was held. For seven of the next eight days there were two such sessions, morning and afternoon. The second of the day was either a light-hearted presentation or a short one. Day six was a "free" day and many of the attendees, being out-of-towners, used the available hours for sightseeing in the city. Some of the women were daring enough to go naked, not downtown but to some of the other touristy venues, which generally tolerate nudity.

I took the opportunity to visit some of my old on-campus haunts. I was accompanied by Daniel and two girls he had befriended, Adèle and Monica. What started as a guided tour by me turned out to be one of the more interesting episodes of the entire ten days.

Adèle and Monica were a very attractive lesbian couple. The former was a slender blonde with angular contours that conveyed brittle fragility, like fine crystal. The latter was a brunette, smaller but more curvaceous. Adèle was serene and laconic. Monica was excitable and voluble, and got easily animated when she spoke so her breasts jiggled and swayed to the rhythm of her gesticulations. Daniel was mesmerized by this, and even I found myself enthralled. Both girls had a full crop of pubic hair, which is worth remarking on because this has become fairly rare. Intriguingly, amidst Monica's fluff there was a gleam of silver, and Adèle's a glint of gold. Their labia were pierced with tiny rings.

While exploring the Village we chanced upon Donna, who was all aquiver as she led us down an alleyway to a small shop. A sign above the door said "Leatherbound Book Club". Donna had found the local fetish society, which I am pretty sure did not exist in my day. We went inside. A young woman was sitting at the counter reading a physics textbook. She had pierced nipples with tiny locks dangling from each; and probably pudenda trinkets as well. Donna was disappointed that there were no meetings of the society scheduled for the next two weeks. But she wasn't leaving empty-handed. She purchased four nylon straps about one and a half metres (five feet) long, and gave one each to Adèle, Monica and myself. She looped one end of her strap around her throat and fastened it with a small attached clasp for a snug fit. She offered the other end, which was already looped to made a fairly crude handle, to Daniel. I followed her lead (so to speak). The "slack" between Daniel and me was about an arm's length. Then the two girls did likewise... except they linked their tethers to their labial rings! And thus we departed the shop, a somewhat bemused Daniel shepherding his four naked ladies on their leashes -- two by the neck and two by the pussy. And such is life on a CMNF campus that as we walked on through the Village and returned to Lakeside Hall we turned a few heads but made no waves.

I must say, however, that I did not (and do not) see the appeal of being led about on a leash. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be a slave or a pet; and I have never regarded myself as property... except a couple of times with Jack, now so long ago. But one of the several things dedication to CMNF has taught me is that we all have our penchants and proclivities. Clearly this was Donna's, and here she was free to follow through on it. That, after all, is the very essence of the Joy of Nudity. Wearing a leash is a public expression of submission just as nudity is of our femininity.

Adèle and Monica didn't hesitate and seemed to have fun with their tethers -- for example deliberately falling behind Daniel and being tugged back to the proper pace by their labia. And of course I went along without reservation. To repeat what I've previously written: I have always been seeking new challenges, novel experiences and sensations, fresh insights. This has expanded my horizons and allowed me to explore unfamiliar pathways. This was how I discovered the Joy of Nudity.

The conference proceedings were typical for this sort of event. There were lectures, multimedia presentations, seminars, workshops, discussion forums. Lunch, like breakfast, was provided by the organizing committee, and in the evening we could have dinner in the Hall dining room or walk the fairly short distance to the Village to eat in one of the restaurants or cafeterias. Since it was vacation time, it was unusual to see so many establishments open for business. I suppose Charlotte had arranged this; and that meant we felt obliged to patronize them. There was only one "nightclub" (for want of a better word) open, but there were two pubs, one just off-campus.

The nights were cool, but this was mid-summer so none of us women felt the need to wear clothing. All the female staff in the entertainment and dining venues were naked. Because the off-campus hotel caters mainly to university students, this extended to those waitresses and female bar attendants, including the manageress. And as much as I endorse the Joy of Nudity, I expressed my concern that it was compulsory. Charlotte assured us that it wasn't; but she had an inverted way of saying it -- "Clothing is optional." So I spoke surreptitiously to a couple of the young women. They convinced me that it was, indeed, a choice... like the one I had made a few years ago.

I won't go into detail about the whole ten days. That is a long time for a conference. The main reason for the unusual duration was to acclimate everyone to the CMNF culture and lifestyle. After all, they would be carrying the message back to their own campuses. The result has been a resounding success. There are now Joy of Nudity campaigns running in universities across the country. I expect that one day, perhaps in the not too distant future, going naked in public will have become a standard part, the modus vivendi, indeed the modus operandi, of being a woman.