Jan and Dave’s family, Part 5

Introduction to the story
Previous installment

Julie: We’ll give you a tour of the rest of the property a little later. But we’ll show you the house right now, since the very first thing the rest of the family and I always do when we get home is to strip off all the silly clothes. If anyone else wants to do likewise, that’s absolutely OK with us – but we never expect visitors to take off anything unless they want to.

Dave: Thanks, Julie! Can’t wait to get naked myself. However, although the rest of my family seems to have become pretty used to seeing me naked, I don’t think they’re quite ready to follow my example.

Julie: That’s perfectly OK. Whether to be naked or not certainly should be everyone’s personal choice. We don’t know many other people in this area who enjoy being naked as much as we do. Most of our friends and neighbors who drop in to visit prefer to keep all or most of their clothes on. Fortunately, they seem to be pretty comfortable with our family being fully naked. Also, they generally invite us to strip off when we visit them the first time – so that’s exactly what we do. After we’re naked the first time, our nudity is simply taken for granted. But I suppose our friends tend to be a bit more open-minded than average. They have to be to put up with us!

Mark: As you can see, we have plenty of closet space near the front door. That’s where we keep clothes to wear if we’re going someplace we can’t be naked. And of course all the clothes go right back there as soon as we return.

Shelley: Danielle and Sean, are you sure you wouldn’t like to take off any clothes? Maybe just your tops? I bet you’d find it feels great!

Danielle: Um, I don’t have any problems being with people who like to be naked, but I still haven’t figured out whether I’d be comfortable without clothes on. I hope you understand.

Shelley: Yes, absolutely. Most of my friends are same way. But it’s cool that they don’t mind at all if I’m naked. More often than you might expect, their families are just as tolerant. How about you, Sean, want to try stripping off?

Sean: Maybe later. I’m still thinking about it.

Dave: Looks like a pretty impressive place your family has. How long have you lived here?

Mark: Somewhat less than two years. Being a contractor with a lot of home building experience, I’ve always had the ambition to build something like this for my own family – a place that’s comfortable and spacious, without having to compromise too much on anything important. But it took awhile to accumulate enough money in the bank that I could afford to build what I really wanted without going into lots of debt.

Julie: It’s also been very important for Mark and me to have a place that’s just right for our naked lifestyle.

Jan: What is it you think’s important for that lifestyle?

Julie: Well, among other things, that means plenty of open space indoors, so the family can do what they like – whether it’s reading, playing games, working in the kitchen, indulging hobbies, being on their computers, or just watching TV – without having to retreat to some room apart from everyone else. See, a naked lifestyle isn’t just enjoying being naked yourself. It’s also being together with the rest of your naked family in one place, without being separated by walls.

Mark: Julie and I have a private bedroom upstairs, and the kids each have their own too. There’s also a sort of utility room with a big closet for storage and plenty of space to provide a bed for guests. But right now we’re not really set up for many guests at once, unless they don’t mind sleeping on air mattresses somewhere or other. However, I do plan to build a separate guest house outside. But I’m not sure when we might have lots of guests, so I haven’t decided yet how big to make it. Both Julie’s family and mine live pretty far away, and they’re still not very comfortable with our naked lifestyle, so they probably won’t visit often.

Julie: There’s only one big bathroom upstairs, with an open shower area and four shower heads so we can all shower together if we want. There are curtains around the toilets, though we don’t always bother with those.

Jan: Peeing right out in the open? I know some guys are OK with that, but you and Shelley too?

Shelley: Yeah, we have some of those little gadgets so we can pee standing up and direct the pee into the toilets. It’s almost as simple as peeing is for guys – especially if one doesn’t have any pants on. We go camping a lot – naked – so we’re used to doing it that way.

Julie: But if anyone, like guests, wants more privacy we have two smaller bathrooms on the ground floor.

Mark: I also have a private office for running my contracting business, to avoid distractions and also to have meetings with clients and people I work with. For meeting with people like that I might wear a little something or other in case they might not be comfortable with nudity. We’ll take you upstairs to see the other rooms and the views from the windows, but you can see just about everything else on this floor right from where we’re standing.

Julie: One other thing you’ll notice is that about half the outside walls in this room are glass about 7 feet high, so there’s plenty of light during the day and great views over the patio and swimming pool and to the woods beyond. It’s almost like living outdoors! Unfortunately, though, there’s not a lot of usable wall space for displaying art – nude art, of course.

Jan: Wow. This place seems palatial. I can understand how it took awhile to save enough money to build it.

Dave: I’ve heard that “great rooms” aren’t as popular now as they were 10 or 20 years ago, but yours is obviously just right for your naked lifestyle.

Julie: We certainly think so.

Shelley: Know what else we can do in this room? We have a portable zip-line that can be set up from the landing at the top of the stairs running over to the that window. Inside it’s only about 30 feet, but really fun. I’ll get it out if there’s time before you have to go. It’s especially fun if you’re naked, but still good even if you’re not. It can also be set up outside over the pool – so you wind up in the water! It’s almost 60 feet in that case.

Jan: This room looks perfect for having large parties. So much space, and with everyone in one room it’s easier to circulate around and find others. Do you entertain much?

Julie: Well, that’s been one of our objectives. Perhaps it’s obvious. We’d like to have lots of people here for great parties – as long as clothing is completely optional. Full or partial nudity is always encouraged – though without any pressure – even for people who’re OK with other folks’ nudity but may be a little hesitant about trying it themselves. Unfortunately, since we’re relatively new to this area, we don’t know all that many folks with pro-nudity attitudes yet. Maybe about four other families, several couples without kids, and a few single people who might or might not come with dates. I hope we can add your family to our regular guest list!

Dave: I think that would be great!

Mark: I think the most guests we’ve had for parties so far is only about 20, and most have gotten partly or fully naked. That’s a good number, but it was only once. I think we could comfortably handle 35 or 40 if we push the furniture to one side and set up tables on the patio for buffet food. 50 might be pretty cozy – though that’s not such a bad thing when folks are naked.

Dave: And unless it’s too cold outside to be naked comfortably, you could have many more people on the patio and around the pool.

Julie: Yes, of course. But hosting a party with so many people is rather daunting – except for one thing. Perhaps you recall that Mark mentioned one type of informal nudist organization – “travel clubs”.

Dave: Yes, I remember. That’s for groups of people who enjoy nudity but don’t have convenient commercial resorts or campgrounds to go to regularly, so they meet for parties at private homes of their members, and visit commercial places or camping places on public land as a group from time to time.

Mark: Right. We know of a couple of groups like that in the general area, but they’re not much more convenient to visit than commercial nudist places. And besides, most of the members are somewhat older couples, most of whom don’t have younger kids like ours. They’re still nice people, but they aren’t as interested in the sorts of things that we like, such as going to clothing-optional spots on suitable rivers or lakes, or camping in the woods, or just hiking naked.

Dave: So you’d like to start a nudist group of your own with members who are more like yourselves?

Julie: Exactly! I’m a more sociable sort of person than Mark, but we both want to meet more people who already do or could enjoy a naked lifestyle like ours. It’s just difficult to find people like that. Mark sometimes says I’m sort of a social butterfly, and I probably was before we got married and decided to be naked as much as possible. The nudity aspect makes finding compatible friends more difficult – especially people who don’t mind being rather open about enjoying nudity. I mean, I can’t just set up a table like others do in some city parks or shopping areas and pass out flyers announcing a nudist group. And especially I can’t do it being naked myself.

Jan: Does sound like a tough problem.

Julie: Yes, and there are plenty of other concerns. For example, just putting up announcements on community bulletin boards in supermarkets or post offices isn’t a great idea. You’d never know what sort of weirdos might turn up. Ditto for announcements in community newspapers. And Terry has suggested setting up a page on Facebook and referring people to it from existing Facebook nudist groups. But you may know how Facebook and most other Internet sites are pretty full of weirdos. There are various other possibilities, and we’ve tried a few, but haven’t had much success so far.

Mark: Although the idea to start our own nudist group has been in the back of our minds, and we now have the perfect home to host a group like that, we’ve only started to brainstorm seriously how to do that. However, as they say “word gets around”. When you’re naked all or most of the time at home, and don’t try to hide it, most of your neighbors eventually know about that. Many will be friendly, understanding, and sympathetic, yet not interested in going naked themselves. But they tell others about their naked neighbors. That’s how we’ve met almost all of the other people around here who really enjoy nudity – they come to us. Often they just shown up unannounced at our front door and leave a small gift like cookies or potted plants to welcome us to the area.

Shelley: And girls on out swim team know I’m a nudist, of course. If anyone mentions it, I certainly don’t hesitate to confirm that – and that my whole family likes to be naked. I get kidded about this a lot as a result, but I don’t mind. However, I’ve been on the team for only a few months so far. You guys are the only ones who seem to have been especially interested.

Julie: One thing I worry about is that many people who are favorable towards nudity just don’t want to be as open about it as we are. So they think maybe we’re atypical, and they don’t discuss the subject with others. Maybe they’re afraid that if they join a nudist group then they’ll have to become more open. That’s not really true. Many people who like to be naked are quite able to keep this interest a secret from people they don’t want to know, if they’re just careful enough. In the private groups I know about, people are also very careful not to talk about other group members by name to outsiders. But we don’t know about these “closet” nudists unless they come to us. It really sucks how nudity is such a taboo in our society, so that people who might enjoy nudity think they need to be secretive about it.

Jan: But isn’t it true that people who enjoy nudity could lose their jobs or many of their friends if they were open about it? Like teachers, for example.

Mark: Unfortunately, that can be true, especially in certain communities and parts of the country. Everybody’s circumstances are somewhat unique, just in terms of what kinds of friends and family they have. What can you do if a close relative you like is really negative about social nudity? This is a genuine difficulty, or at least seems to be risky to many people.

Julie: Well, enough of this downbeat chatter. Let’s go have a look around the rest of our house and then our property outside. After we’ve shown you around, you’re all certainly welcome to join us for a dip in the pool if you like.

Jan: But some of us don’t have swim suits and are still not sure we’re comfortable being naked. That’s no problem for Dave, of course, and Danielle still has her suit from swimming practice. But what about me and Sean and Susan?

Sean: I guess I can go in the pool naked. I might not stay naked, but I can cover up with a towel if I need to.

Susan: I’ll be brave and go naked, too. Remember, I was used to that in my family when I was much younger. My body’s completely different now, but what the heck. I’d love to feel like a five-year-old again!

Julie: Great, Susan. And you needn’t worry, Jan. I keep a few clean women’s suits, both tanks and two-pieces, for situations just like this. It’s fine with us for you to wear one of those if you wish. Oh, and by the way, I want to ask you now whether you can stay for dinner. We’d love to have you. We have various things we can put on the grill: chicken, steaks, sausages, or burgers – take your pick. I’ll make a simple salad. Won’t be any problem at all to feed you folks.

Jan: I’d love to accept your hospitality. That OK with you, Dave?

Dave: Certainly.

Mark: It seems we’re all set then. As we’re walking around, I have another suggestion for you all to think about. Camping has been mentioned several times, because it’s something our family loves to do. We know various great spots in the woods and other places off the beaten path where we can be naked the whole time. It just happens that we’ve already planned a trip for next week, in a spot we all like in National Forest land not too far away. You know the Forest Service allows camping almost anywhere except a few areas, right?

Dave: Yes, I’ve heard that. Our family likes to camp too, but so far we’ve mostly just used established campgrounds.

Jan: But are the Forest Service folks OK with people being naked while camping on their land?

Julie: In our experience there are very few who will have any objection if they happen to see you naked. They might let you know, however, whether there are other campers in the area who might have objections.

Jan: But doesn’t it happen often that other nearby campers aren’t OK with nudity?

Julie: Yeah, to be honest it does happen sometimes. But people are almost always civil about it. Occasions where someone gets very angry and hostile are very rare, at least in our experience. It’s usually possible to work out satisfactory arrangements, such as moving a campsite a little for more privacy. We’ve even agreed to cover ourselves up a bit for a little while, if we or others aren’t planning to stay around much longer or when individuals who object to nudity are present. And after all, there are other situations besides nudity that can present problems for nearby campers, such as loud music, noisy generators, smoky campfires. Making accommodations for nudity isn’t very different from what would be done in those other cases.

Mark: Most people who enjoy camping in remote places, as we do, tend to be pretty laid-back types, so there are fewer problems than you might think.

Dave: Good. That’s reassuring.

Mark: Not to change the subject, Dave, but I noticed you have a nice 4wd truck rather like mine. The place we’re thinking about is almost impossible to reach without that sort of vehicle, especially if you need to bring much equipment. Rather primitive back roads, you know. But your truck would be just fine. So I’m suggesting you’d be quite welcome to join us if you’d like to and can get away.

Dave: I have a fair amount of free time in my line of work. Although I do have a contract programming job right now, there’s no big time pressure. I could take off for up to a whole week, I think. How about it, Jan, did you have any plans?

Jan: Well, my Mom is leaving on Sunday.

Susan: And I’m sorry about that, too, since I’d love to go camping as well. But the flights are all arranged and it’s too much hassle to rebook.

Jan: I do have some piano students scheduled for lessons next week. But their families often want to reschedule for various reasons, so they’ll probably be OK with a new time the following week. I’ve been known to make schedule changes like that before. Shouldn’t be much problem.

Danielle: It’s summer. I don’t have many commitments, except for swimming. But Shelley will miss next week too. There’s usually two or three team members that can’t show up. Should be OK.

Sean: Nothing’s on for me that I know about.

Mark: Excellent, excellent! Let’s do it, then!

Sean: Will there be lots of birds in this place you’re going? I’m super interested in birds and like to see as many different ones as possible.

Mark: Yes, Sean, I think so. I don’t know much about birds, so maybe you can help me learn to spot a few. In the woods, you probably know, there are various raptors and quail and so on. Many you’re not likely to see in town, I suppose.

Julie: How about you, Danielle? What do you like to do on camping trips?

Danielle: Well, if there’s a lake nearby I love to swim, of course. And I love hiking too.

Mark: I’m afraid there are only some small streams where we’re going. No lakes of any size. So you can get wet and splash around a little, but that’s about it. However, there’ll be plenty of places to hike.

Danielle: You go on the trials naked very much?

Julie: Absolutely. It wouldn’t be nearly as much fun if we wore anything besides boots and perhaps a shirt – but only if there’s not much shade and we need the protection. Sunburn on your boobs is a bitch.

Danielle: Is this a place you won’t meet others on the trails if you’re naked?

Julie: No, I’ll be honest with you, Danielle. There may be a few others. But there’s hardly any objection to nudity on the trails. Since the encounters are brief, it’s even less of a problem than around campsites. You’d be surprised how many people hike naked. And most of those who don’t seem to have little problem with those who do. At least that’s how it is in the places where we like to camp. Once you’re fairly comfortable being naked, you can be as naked as you like and probably won’t have any hassles. In decent weather what’s more important than how much you wear is to have good boots, some sunscreen and insect repellent if you need it, and a pack that’s comfortable to wear next to your bare skin.

To be continued.