“You garden naked. Can we come and visit your garden naked, too?” Yes. (NYTimes.com)

  • Brainspore

    Something something trimming the bushes.

  • http://www.xeni.net/ Xeni Jardin

    IS THAT A PARSNIP IN YOUR POCKET

  • giantasterisk

    I’m surprised there’s enough interest to warrant 6 naked days a season. The UK seems to have a lot more weird events and traditions than one would expect for an area its size. Perhaps the dreary weather makes them a little stir-crazy, and they wind up chasing wheels of cheese down dangerously steep hills just to throw off the ennui.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/Freethinkersanon Christopher

    The phrase “clothing optional” always seems to me like it’s subtly pressuring people to go with the non-clothing option. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, and I guess if I feel compelled to wear a tuxedo or muumuu while gardening there are plenty of other days I could do that without feeling uncomfortable. 

    • Brainspore

      The phrase “clothing optional” always seems to me like it’s subtly pressuring people to go with the non-clothing option.

      I think that has less to do with the phrase itself than the situation it describes. Clothing optional areas are relatively few and far between, so if you make a conscious decision to go to one and not disrobe then you might understandably be perceived as a voyeur.

      • Donald Petersen

        Yes indeedy.  In a world with a freer attitude toward public nudity, one might expect to find areas designated as “Nudity Optional.”  But since those places are so few and far between, and since wandering around naked in ordinary public areas will often get one arrested, it makes sense to imply that, though clothed people shouldn’t feel exactly unwelcome in “clothing optional” areas, the default condition and expectation as that area’s norm is to be nude.

      • Antinous / Moderator

        A friend of my was in town and staying at one of the nude resorts. I went there to pick him up, and we were both walking through the grounds fully clothed. The naked people were following us around like we were tuna rolled in catnip.

    • Antinous / Moderator

      I guess if I feel compelled to wear a tuxedo or muumuu while gardening…

      Are you gardening at night? Because a tuxedo would be wrong. You should garden in a morning suit.

  • noah django

    “On another path was a retired civil servant who did not want to give his name, for fear of public exposure.”
    Oh, NYT.  I see what you did there.

  • BethNOLA

    William Blake and his wife, Kate, often sat in their garden, naked. When visitors came by, he would say “Come in! It’s only Adam and Eve!”

  • Jen Onymous

    RE Public Nekkidness in General:  I can dig the concept of mandatory nudity, in order to weed out the perverts/peepers. 

    I went here the last time I was in Berlin:

    http://www.liquidrom-berlin.de/en/index.php

    Actually very refreshing to see other bodies of all ages and types, and you get over the “naked” thing very quickly. 

    I wish there were more naked saunas/spas here in NYC.  I am dying to go here, but the idea of wearing a bathing suit in a sauna for hours just seems gross; feels much better naked:

    http://www.nyspacastle.com/eng/introduction/introduction01.php