Dear DOMAI
Until I was nineteen I lived with my family in Southern New England (USA). We’d get a full dose of every season although the spring and fall seasons always seemed too short. My parent’s house sat on two acres but it always felt like much more. The back of the property had a fairly steep 150 foot drop before it leveled out to a river. Along the bank of the river there was a path that ran about a mile upstream where there was a damn and a paper mill. The path ran about a half mile downstream where you came to a two lane bridge of a fairly well traveled road. Across the road was our township park.
The river had been fairly polluted, caused by the paper mill. The mill closed about the time I was ten years old. From then on the water got progressively cleaner every year. As the water visibly cleared the wildlife began to return. You could now see riverbed bottom through the water. Fish started to return along with frogs, snakes, beaver, muskrats and turtles. The river was alive again.
A fairly dense forest bordered the river on both sides. All the trees were very mature and hence very tall. They created a dense canopy of leaves high above the forest floor. For reasons unknown to me there was never a lot of undergrowth on the forest floor. The forest floor did not get much direct sunlight but it was very bright. It gave you the feeling of privacy, yet it in a large setting. All you would hear were the noises of the forest which was mostly birds and your line of sight was always a few hundred yards or more.
About a quarter mile upstream there was an island in the middle of the river. There was no access to the island except when the river flow undercut the soil and roots of a tree and the tree would fall across the river to the island. Every tree that fell eventually got washed away. Some years you could get to the island and some years you couldn’t. The island was probably about an acre in size. Where the river flowed directly at the island there was a tall wall of natural clay. The river split here. One side going fast and narrow around the island and the other side was much wider and slower. On the slow side of the island there was the one continually sunny section of the forest. It was where the river washed up sand and stone during the flood stages of early spring. This was a natural beach area.
Most summers I never saw anyone else in the forest. Two or three times, when I was about sixteen, I took a naked walk along the path. What possessed me to do it I still do not know, but it felt great. And for whatever reason, I never did it again.
There were two girls that lived about five houses away that were a year younger than I. They were best friends. I was mowing the grass one summer day of my nineteenth year when these two girls, Kris and Lucy walked over and started to chat. We could only talk about how boring it was to be in this nothing-happening New England town for the summer. Lucy had been my first girlfriend when I was 14 and she was 13. That relationship ended when I was 16. It was my fault it ended and I was the one who got the broken heart. Lucy was one of the few women I’ve met where the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts. I’ll try to explain it this way: Lucy had nice legs, nice rear end, nice tummy, nice chest, nice face, nice smile, and nice hair. Everything was nice. Nothing was exceptional until you looked at Lucy the person. She was a spectacularly beautiful girl. Her smile and eyes would light up a room and her giving personality shown even brighter. It was not unusual for her to speak before she thought, but the purity and innocence of her observations never created a problem, in fact they added to her charm. If God would allow me to re-live my fourteenth year on earth I would never have allowed her to get away. But that won’t happen and I was stupid. On we go. Kris was a bit taller and a bit slimmer than Lucy. She had long hair and deep brown eyes and a bit more reserved than Lucy. She usually wore loose fitting clothing and I often wondered what she actually looked like. Kris mostly allowed Lucy to take the lead and they were both OK with that.
Somehow the conversation came to the island. The two of them had never been on the island and because we were all so busy we decided to walk there this afternoon. Maybe God smiled on me a little this summer as there was a fallen tree that allowed access to the island. I put the lawn mower away and we walked down the descent to the river. Once down at the river we started upstream toward the island. We were talking small talk until Lucy said she and Kris had watched me walk naked on this same path about four years earlier. They never told anyone and could not bring themselves to confront me until today. I was so embarrassed that I actually felt naked in front of them. They both quickly rushed to my aid by saying they had secretly wanted to do the same thing but could never find the courage. They asked if we could go to the island to be naked. I could not muster a verbal response but gestured toward the island.
We slowly crawled across the tree above the fast flowing water to the island. Once on the island I told them about the small beach and they agreed that’s where we would head. About half way across the island the girls started to undress. Their button-down blouses can off first, then their shorts. I was walking ahead trying not to be too curious. I took my shirt off just as we got to the beach. I stopped the girls suddenly and put my finger to my lips so they would not say a word. On the beach was a large snapping turtle with two baby turtles and they were soaking up the warmth of the sun. The girls could not see the turtles so they pushed their way past me and I backed up a little so they could get a full view. It was then I realized they were both naked, except for their sneakers. They were focused on the turtles and were whispering to each other. They were too busy turtle watching to even notice they had taken my breath away. I was awestruck.
They were both beautiful in totally different ways. I kept thinking to myself God sure knew what he was going when he designed women. The mother turtle must have heard us and lumbered into the water. The two young turtles appeared to still be asleep. The girls walked over toward then to inspect them closer. While they were occupied on the turtles I got out of my shorts. The girls had now stopped whispering and were more talking which signaled the two turtles to head for the water. When the turtles vanished into the water the girls turned toward me and started starring at me.
We were all checking each other out and we all knew it. I am not sure we were all comfortable but no one broke the spell, everyone kept looking at each other and we were all smiling. I don’t know how long we were all mesmerized but it was broken when I spread my clothes out to sit on the beach. The two girls laid their clothes out but continued to stand. Lucy started to slowly spin around with her arms up over her head, almost like a ballerina. Kris skipped up the short beach area and back. They both could not stop sharing how great it felt to be naked outdoors in the sun. Neither of them wanted to be stationary just yet. They wanted to explore the island so I got up and we explored the island.
Those two had such a great time being naked. They were smiling so much they commented their face muscles started to hurt. I was just following wherever they lead and I was having the best day of my life watching those two having a great time. They knew I was watching them intently and they loved it. They were watching me and I could only think what’s fair is fair. We went back to the beach area and laid in the sun. I closed my eyes and I could feel them intensely looking me over. When I did open my eyes they closed theirs and it was my turn to look them both over. All too soon the shade started reaching across the beach and we knew it was time to start back. Lucy got up and said she was sorry they hadn’t suggested this four years ago. I was thrilled they suggested it at all.
We got dressed and headed back to the fallen tree to cross back over the river. As we got to the top of the path into my back yard we all looked at each other and none of us could stop smiling. We all promised to do this again. We never did. That was some 40 years ago.
Thanks for the opportunity to share this highlight in my life. Thanks for sharing the beauty of women with us.
John I
