[torretxt]

My next reality check came when the parade got underway. To my chagrin, there weren’t just naked cyclists in this parade. Though I’m guessing there were maybe 100 or so naked people, heck we were the MINORITY and at the end to boot! I don’t know for certain but I’d say there were at least TEN times that many costumed people ahead of us. You wouldn’t believe how ornate and clever the clothed and decorated people were! They were extravagant to say the least! I had no idea! This wasn’t some little parade – it was HUGE! The fact that I was in the naked minority only reinforced how out of place my nudity was. The route wasn’t short either. I’m not really sure but I’m thinking it was at least 7 or 8 miles long! Neither did it move very fast with a lot of starting and stopping because of all the walking costumed participants ahead of us so those of us on bikes had to do a lot of riding back and forth at times, covering the same ground to keep from having to come to a complete standstill until the parade got going again.

That little detail was important. You see there were literally thousands of people watching on the sidewalks for mile after mile and they were at times VERY, VERY close! What unnerved me most was the composition of the onlookers. There were kids, teenagers, young, old and extremely old. People in wheelchairs, on crutches; in fact entire families were there! I felt bad being naked in front of kids – especially the young boys - but then after seeing literally hundreds of families – every one of them enjoying themselves it all felt perfectly natural.

What I loved most was the smiles! When someone looked directly at me, smiled and then waved appreciatively, it made me feel like a million dollars! People were clearly having fun and so was I!!!!!

People were also close enough to talk to. The times I had to slow down or stop my bike, people would often talk to me! It was weird having people see me naked. But it was really awkward TALKING to them as they stood there completely clothed. Many said how BRAVE I was. I didn’t feel very brave. I felt like an idiot. But still I was excited by all the attention. Many asked where I was from. When they found out how far I traveled to ride in the parade they were amazed. Okay, I’m lying, what I really, REALLY liked was when a cute guy said how beautiful I was and I could tell by the way he looked at my body that he was serious. People don’t normally say things like that to me so when it happens I LIKE it. I LIKE IT A LOT!!!!

I too was surprised at the number of women in the crowd who eagerly took pictures – especially of the nude women! For some reason I found that odd, but I didn’t dislike it. In fact some of my biggest compliments, the most genuine of smiles and the sincerest supportive remarks came from clothed women in the crowd. Looking back I’m guessing that they too wanted to be out there but didn’t have the guts to actually do it so talking with someone who was out there naked was the next best thing. Of course I’m only guessing here. It could also be that they just liked looking at naked women, who knows.

The next reality check for me was the police officers. Can you imagine riding by a man in uniform completely naked on a public street and he didn’t frown at you or arrest you? Throughout the whole parade I passed hundreds of officers and even though nudity was supposedly accepted, (no one ever said outright that it was, it was just sort of understood) I felt scared and wanted to hide! I never got over that feeling that day, NEVER! There was something about a badge and my bare boobs that just didn’t seem to go together.

When we reached the end of the parade route my biggest challenge was to find my husband as he had my clothes! The suddenly reality was that the parade – my excuse for my nudity was over and I was miles from any covering to get dressed with! I was naked and stuck like that. That was a weird feeling I can tell you! I just mingled for a bit with the crowd as it was mass chaos for a while as people started to leave.

Fortunately the party I was with had already arranged to attend the extended festivities at Gas Works Park. Elaine said it would be fun and that it was something new. Paul took care of my bike. My husband eventually made his way there with my clothes. Waiting for him to arrive made me a nervous wreck as I was now without the safety of my bike and had to walk among the ever-increasing throngs of people. I was worried he would never find me. I had irrational visions of spending the rest of my life naked. Of course that was the fun part – seeing all the costumed people roaming around that I had missed at the back of the parade while I was still wearing only body paint. There were refreshments and entertainment and stuff. There was a pageant later that afternoon that featured a play about the summer solstice with costumed actors and stuff, but unfortunately we didn’t stay for that. As soon as he arrived I got dressed. All too soon it was over. Admittedly, I was depressed. I didn’t really want to get dressed. Secretly, I still don’t but sadly I HAD to. Will I do it again? My secret side says “HELL YEAH!” The reality is, I don’t know, maybe. Thanks Klondike for pushing me past my normal limits and for being such a gentleman! I’ll always love you for that! You’re my hero!

Well that’s my story such as it was. I wanted to share it with people that might understand or would want know what it was like from a naked woman’s perspective. Thanks for reading and allowing me to post this here. And to all you guys out there, get yourself to these events, especially the little known activities. Be NICE not crude or rude and take lots of pictures and post them. Like Klondike, you’ll never know who you’ll inspire to take their clothes off - all because of you! I’m living proof . . . I did it for him!

P.S. Now ya'll don't get the idea that I'll be posting lots of naked pictures of me at this site or taking requests because I'm not like that at all. Ask Klondike, he’ll tell you the same thing if you don’t believe me. I’m not looking for attention or a lot of trashy e-mails either. I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do this (the parade) and by posting my account maybe inspire some other woman who may be interested in public nudity to give it a try. If I can do it - anyone can. Thanks guys for reading my long account of my experience. I’ve always felt welcome here for some reason. I joined OCC because of the exhibitionists here and I always admired those women and their courage. I guess now in some small way I am one of them. OH GAWD!!!! :-)