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Families and Nudism - A personal experience at Solair |
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Families and Nudism - A personal experience at Solair |
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AN OPEN LETTER TO FAMILIES INTERESTED IN NUDISM Dear Families: I instigated the search and had few preconceptions other than the stereotype, which I figured had to be largely inaccurate. In those pre-Internet days, I somehow found the American Sunbathing Association (AANR’s predecessor) and its listed clubs, one of which I hoped to visit. My wife eagerly acceded as she had become increasingly less comfortable at the East Coast beaches and we both loved camping. Our daughter, by then age three and decidedly lacking inhibition and Original Sin guilt, could not be persuaded to keep a suit on at any beach, in any event. Despite our extensive experiences being nude in public places, two out of the five of us (we also brought our two dogs) felt increasingly nervous as we prepared for our first nudist camping experience on Cape Cod. What would it be like? How would the people be? Would we feel weird? But when we arrived at Sandy Terraces on Cape Cod, which I had chosen for its proximity to some of those aforementioned free beaches, we instantly felt at home. The moment we drove through the gate the members adopted all of us, as well as a friend who met us there. We never left the grounds. After two weeks of camping, we wanted to be there all the time. The only problem was the distance: Cape Cod is about five hours from our home in New York. One of the members suggested we try Solair, located in northeast Connecticut. (I hadn’t considered it before because the listed address was in Massachusetts and I’d figured that if I was going all the way to Massachusetts, I may as well go to the Cape.) The next summer we did. That was 25 years and two more daughters ago. We bought a cabin and reared our daughters here at Solair. I cannot imagine a better place to have done so. Solair is a family-oriented nudist camp that is a family in itself. We always knew that our daughters had hundreds of adults, many of whom knew them their whole lives, looking after them. This community has always been diverse, with white-collar professionals mixing easily with blue-collar laborers. Once the collars come off, the many differences that separate us in the outside world just vanish. And the same goes with the kids: there is a definite mixing of the age groups that just does not happen in the outside world. Inclusion by older kids gives the younger children a tremendous ego boost and a peek at what’s coming up in a few years. The older children gain a sense of responsibility and often an “assistant” in the process. Almost all of our friends from the textile world know about camp and most have even come for a visit. On occasion the girls have even brought a friend from home for a visit, but this was more the exception rather than the rule. We never told the girls to keep Solair a secret, and they often did mention it at inopportune times, but kids will be kids and we dealt with the issue as forthrightly as possible. Not one person who learned about our nudist lifestyle was horrified or critical. We have been surprised over the years to learn of nudists who have managed to keep their weekend lives a secret. While we do not wear our lifestyle choices (or any other personal information, for that matter) on our sleeves, we wanted our girls to feel that what we were doing was not only not wrong, but in fact a healthy choice for them, and for us all. Especially because they were girls (and now young women), my wife and I wanted them to grow up with a positive body image. Girls are under continual assault by advertisers to aspire to a body type that is almost impossible. Even the models themselves are too imperfect for the goods they hawk: their images are retouched to excise the tiniest flaw; limbs are stretched; complexions’ hues made preternatural. Eating disorders, epidemic in at-large society, spared my daughters and all their friends here. Perhaps because of growing up here with an unexpurgated view of what women really look like, at all ages, in varying degrees of fitness, and in all physical conditions they feel good about who they are, flaws and all. I recently asked some of the adults who grew up here as children what they remember about camp. “It was and still is a place where I felt accepted. It’s home,” said one. “I especially loved the freedom to do what I wanted when I wanted. To be unscheduled and to walk for hours in the peaceful woods,” said another. Another woman who grew up here and has reared her own children to young adulthood at Solair (three generations still active here) said that “Solair is filled with love and happiness. I always felt safest when I was here and I know my kids both feel the same way. It is a fantastic, giant family.” Come visit Solair and bring the whole family. It’s an experience that will bring happiness and bring you back for more. Maybe even a lifetime – or two. Sincerely, Solair - For the Young and Young at heart Copyright 2007. LRI. All Rights Reserved. |