My belief is nudity

With the Easter weekend behind us, I suddenly wonder why so many people still have problems believing that the nude life can be a good life. Yes, ‘naturally’ there will always people who think they’re right and we’re wrong, but isn’t it odd how strong and lopsided ‘belief’ can be?

Christians are told to believe that 2000 and some years ago, a man got up in his grave and came back to the world. Sure, if that’s what you want to believe, go right ahead.

For some reason it takes an even larger leap of faith / believing that people like to be naked. That is a step or bridge or belief too far for most people in this world. It strikes me time and again that this ancient resurrection story is accepted as gospel (pun intended), and that we, the living proof of the joy of the nude life, have this constant battle against disbelief.

A few days ago I was at our local nude beach, and while I was there – with about 6 or 7 other nude people, I was “hit” by the calm and serenity of the place.

View from the local nude beach

If I desperately had to pick a church, this would be it. No hassle, no “have to”, just a bunch of kind people that are there to relax. They don’t need a belief or faith to know this is a good thing.

The good life. Nude.

Even better: no one has any interest in what you believe or think. As long as you behave according to the rules of the nude beach and you don’t make a mess, you’re golden.

I have yet to find a group of people that’s so diverse, yet so tight-knit in their conviction that the nude way is the good way.

Of course, there is the odd incident that someone creates a problem, but that’s not hard to deal with. The majority is peaceful and accepting of everyone from the start, and only when you’ve shown you can’t behave, you will be asked to leave. I’ve seen it happen only twice, so far.

Give me the belief that nude is good. Others can take their own beliefs and be happy with them.

SYSK – Nude beaches

I found this one from “Stuff you should know” very interesting. This is the video version of their podcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZZD4nnkPjw

If you want to listen to it without watching, you can find the mp3 available for listening or downloading at https://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/nude-beaches.htm

I find that these two people approach the subject in a decent manner (forgive them their usual banter, it’s in jest). You may benefit from it; they hand some things to explain nudism to your unenlightened friends!

Nude beaches and cameras

I suddenly wonder about something. Nude beaches (and other places where naked people like to gather) and cameras. We all know the ever-present smartphones and they all have cameras. Cameras that aren’t always welcome at nude hangouts. After all you don’t want to have just anyone take your picture and put it on some porn site where others ogle you and have their pity little pleasure.

On the other hand however, cameras can be put to good use. At times I read of people complaining that they are harassed and stared at by unreal nudists. Such ‘nudists’ probably make a habit out of that.

Nudist beach — Enjoying the beach unhindered.

Suppose now that you are there, seeing people who’re making a pest of themselves. Perhaps even for so umpteenth time. Wouldn’t a camera be a great deterrent when you point it at them and snap their picture? You can show it around and let others know about those predators so they can be spotted easily?

That way we, the real nudists and naturists, can enjoy our beaches and resorts without having to be suspicious about folks who seem to have dubious intents…

When you go to a nudist beach…

You may have heard this whining before:

When you go to a nude beach you see all the people you don’t want to see.

Yes. That’s probably true for the people who go to such a beach to look at people. The way they probably also go to a dressed beach, to ogle people and try to see what they can’t see because of the wonders of modern bathing suits (although those aren’t very covering lately).

The people who go on about this don’t have a clue about nude beaches. They may not even have a clue about textile beaches, because people – as far as I understand – go there to enjoy themselves and have a good time. Not to be stared at as if they’re strips of bacon hanging in a window to make other people drool over them. And that goes for both kinds of beach: nudists aren’t there to be stared at. They are not the super model kind of folks. I think I mentioned this before: there are perhaps 20 supermodels in the world (those are the skinny, malnourished people who have to live on air and a slice of lettuce, remember?) in a world population of 7 billion. That is 1 supermodel on every 350,000,000 normal people. How big do you think the chances are to catch all those supermodels on the same beach? Let’s forget the nude part here for convenience’s sake.

I’ve been to nude beaches. I don’t go there to stare. I go there to relax, to meet nice people and have a good time. The folks whining about us (yes, I include myself here) should stop that and be satisfied with photoshopped photos and manipulated videos of people who aren’t real. I’ll even throw in a beach background for them to make them entirely happy. As long as the whining stops.

Maybe someone can show me how wonderful, healthy and fit these whiners look themselves…

Verdict in the case of Delftse Hout nudism

Perhaps you remember the upheaval about the sudden closure of the decades old nude beach in Delft, the Netherlands. Yesterday there was a verdict on the case, and it was in favour of the nudists on trial.

Here is the official, Dutch verdict on the Dutch justice site. I’ll translate it for those who can’t read Dutch:

Acquittal of forbidden nudity in Delft

The Hague , 11th of July 2014

On the 11th of July 2014 the Court of The Hague has acquitted eight suspects of sixteen cases of forbidden nude recreation.

The city of Delft has closed the nude beach in the nature and recreational area of Delftse Hout on the 18th of April 2013. The eight suspects have spent time on the beach undressed after that date, and for that they received fines.

The law states that unclothed recreation is not permitted in public places that aren’t suitable for that. The suspects have said that it’s not clear what the law-maker means with that. The Court of The Hague states that the law should be interpreted in a way that nude recreation is not permitted in public places that are evidently not suited for that. In the cases of the eight suspects there is insufficient evidence, and therefore they have been acquitted.
The Public Prosecutor had asked the court to provide maintainable rules concerning nude recreation. The court said to that: “It is not for a judge to make clear laws or to clarify laws. That is explicitly a task of the law-maker.”

Nude beach Delft and court. The first results.

The first results are in. The court has looked at the fines of the Dutch nudists from the Delft nude beach.

Ruling: the beach is not fit for naked recreation when more than 150 dressed people (including children) are present.

Most people who were fined don’t have to pay. (I don’t know how they decided on that.)

The city of Delft has announced they are going to find a better place for the nude sunlovers. Many people fear that this will be a remote, hard to reach location where there is far more opportunity for sexual harassment than happened at the present location. A number of nudists plan to appeal, as on the same morning a large number of people were treated differently for the same ‘offence’.

My vacation, part 4. Sneaky textile.

This is probably the last time I’ll annoy you about my vacation…

And this is, again, about the beach at Fuerteventura, but it could happen anywhere. As I already wrote, all beaches in Spain are clothing optional. This happened during one of my walks along the beach.

A group of four women, in various state of bikini, were having fun talking while they sat in the sand. As I came walking along, a lot of commotion seemed to set in among the women. Two got up and one started digging in a shoulder bag. Out came a camera of sorts, and one of the women positioned herself for a photo. Remarkably enough she kept looking over her shoulder, clearly to make certain that I would be in the picture too. The women talked to each other in Spanish, not a language I understand, but there was no doubt about what they had in mind, they wanted a naked man in the picture. Without a thought I had made up my mind, diverted my course, and went to stand next to the posing woman. I put my arm around her shoulders and gave them my best picture smile.

The effect was beautiful and instantaneous: the posing woman yelped and jumped, the others exclaimed something in Spanish, and the four of them took off as if a nude bat out of naturist hell was chasing them.

They’ll think twice the next time when they want to sneak a picture of a naturist on a beach.

TimeLapse Torn nudist beach

TimeLapse Torn nudist beach from CLOTXA on Vimeo.

This video courtesy of xabyjordi on Twitter.

A journey at Torn nudist beach, close to Hospitalet de l’Infant, Tarragona (Spain). Just using iPhone with Timelapse app. It’s a simple video, but very funy for summetime. Not abble identify persons, frames goes fast.
TRACK: Righeira – Vamos A La Playa
CLOTXA Produccions Audiovisuals:

Nude recreation in the Netherlands

Delft.Probably all naturists and nudists in the Netherlands know about it. A while ago the city council of Delft close the local nude beach because of ‘too much sexual harassment’ as reported by people. Since then persistent nudists are fined time and again because they don’t give up on ‘their’ beach. Yesterday in an article in a leading Dutch newpaper: Herman van der Helm, who frequents the (prior) nude beach and co-founder of the naturist swimming association: “This week I already was fined 5 times, 3 of which in one day”.

Nude beach closed

The article mentions that the police received many positive reactions of clothed people:

According to the city of Delft did the police receive many positive reactions. ‘Clothed people praise the way the police handles this,’ says a spokesperson of the city.

This can hardly be seen as proof. No one mentions any numbers. Say there are 25 nudists who complain about losing their beach and there are 3 ‘positive reactions’ then the balance is entirely off.

The Dutch Nudist Foundation NFN keeps a watchful eye on the happenings in Delft.

Where is the nude beach?

[google-translator]

Yesterday I had a lucky moment and was able to go to our local nude beach. As I walked the last stretch, I met a young lady who was clearly training for the 4 day marches that are held in my area next week. We struck up a bit of a conversation and at one point she told me that someone had come up to her and asked her where the nude beach was.Her eyes became big even as she recounted the event, as if she’d been asked to help kill someone and then hide the body.

I asked her if she had been able to point that person in the right direction. She hadn’t. Well, as I was going there, it was only a matter of time before she learnt where the nude beach is. As I wished her happy walking and headed for the entrance to the beach (it’s a small gate to pass through) she stared at me for a bit. I assured her the beach was there, as she could also see on the large sign that’s posted right next to it.

She didn’t make any remarks about it. That’s good. Maybe she’ll be able to help others out with her new-found knowledge.