[Roxanne]

Hey Fango,

It used to be great good fun when I could do something or show something, and get a guy so flustered he couldn't speak clearly. While I look pretty good for a woman pushing 40, I can't change the fact that I am getting to be that old. The oppurtunities to render a man speechless are unlikely to happen again, unless I do something totally outrageous. It is unlikely I will do that, as I re-enter the dating world. It hasn't happened yet.

The closest thing I've done to outrageous since Stan died really wasn't outrageous, if you know the people involved. Last month, I went to sea with friends, to scatter his ashes. I still owed him some Naked Days, for wagers I'd lost, and our friends convinced me I should be naked for him one last time, when I scattered him. When I originally thought there would be three people on board, the couple who owned the yacht and me, I had intended to get naked when I scattered him. It turned out to be a larger crowd.

At the rail, one of the other women asked if it would be OK if they were all topless when I did it. Given the stripping games and parties we had all enjoyed, I agreed. After I scattered him, on the spur of the moment, I tossed in his urn, followed by my clothing. When I did that, all the women threw their bras in after him.

We sailed for a few hours, ate lunch and talked. It was interesting, with eight fully dressed men, seven topless women, and one naked one. We talked about Stan for a while, then it became the normal cocktail party chit-chat, as we sailed and returned to the marina. All of the women had blouses or T-shirts they could put on, which they all did as we tied up, but I didn't have anything to wear, a fact which didn't dawn on me until we were backing into the slip. The couple who owned the boat expected me to be naked, so they brought a little dress -- short and low cut -- the kind one would wear to a bar or a party, where she hoped to not go home alone. They made me disembark, and gave it to me on the dock.

Given the circumstances and the people there, that was not outrageous behavior. With other people there, it could have been in poor taste, but somehow I think Stan would have thought it was funny. Some of us went out to dinner at Outback on the way home. While I was underdressed, it was not traumatic. I've been more exposed in that restaruant twice, as a result of wagers lost.

Fango, it was fun to read your message, where you acted like you were unable to speak clearly. That is probably the only way I'll be able to enjoy that reaction from now on. Thanks for writing.

Roxanne