The Five year Bath

   I have gone through different fits of being shy and not shy about my nudity. As youth fades you are less likely to take your shirt off. When I was in early part of grammar school I had an issue with taking my shirt off. I remember swimming with my T shirt. I attribute this confusion to my older sisters teasing like saying to me" Aqua Velvet Man".

   I remember when I found out you had to ware cloths. It is as clear as if it happened today. I can picture my dad and ma in the kitchen with the formica top table. I was taking a bath up stairs. We all lived on one floor and we called it upstairs. I was told that I was in the tub long enough, and I should get out and get dressed. To get to my room from the bathroom I needed to cross the kitchen where my two sisters and parents sat at that Formica table.

   I got out of the tub no towel in hand and walked across the kitchen to my room. It was only a 15 second walk. In those 15 seconds all damnation broke loose. The gasp, and oooooooos, snickers and giggles from my sisters changed how I  contended with not only nudity but in being teased. The sisters were delivering a prehistoric attitude and giving a four year old a lifelong complex.

    I waffled on the nudity issue. I streaked when I was 16, which took a lot of alcohol for courage. I was arrested skinny dipping in Lake Thunderbird. But I had a hard time taking a shower at high school or boy scout camp. Thank God I didn't sweat a lot. I sunbathed on Blacks Beach CA. (nude beach) but kept my trunks on.

   I was shy and not so Shy. In conclusion your nudity has a lot to do with your nature.