High Dive
A mid-autumn skinny dip in Vermont gave me a taste of the joy I longed for.
One summer, during the years-long monogamous relationship that defined my 20s, I found myself lusting after all manner of naked activities.
I didn’t see these as necessarily sexual desires. I was, instead, drawn to platonic “naturist” spaces like clothing-optional beaches.
Once such place was a lake beach in Vermont, not too far from my then-home in upstate New York.
I had heard about it months earlier, when I attended another (non-sexual) nude swimming event at a local sports complex. The elders there all raved about this lake, supposedly a little slice of naturist heaven. I’d been trying to find a way to go ever since, but my boyfriend at the time was decidedly not interested in joining.
Who else did I know with a car and an interest in nude swimming? My queer friend Steven1 quickly came to mind and, when I floated the idea, he was on board. Our summers were busy and we would have missed our chance to go entirely, had it not been for a fluke 80-degree day we got on a Wednesday in early October.
He picked me up that afternoon, the both of us playing hooky from work to take advantage of this gift from Mother Nature. We arrived in Vermont, parked in a gravel lot and made a short hike through the woods, the trees beginning to turn shades of light orange and bright red. We reached a small, sandy beach that was full of naked bodies lounging in the unseasonable warmth of the October sun. A few brave souls were wading into the lake, and more were scattered on lounge chairs along the rocky ledges down the shore. On the horizon, gentle hills rose up from the lake, a rolling green postcard of Vermont.
😈 This is your content warning! 🌶️ If your sensibilities aren’t offended already, this post is only getting spicier from here.
I wasted no time sloughing off my clothes, as Steven did the same. I buzzed with my usual nervous jitters, amplified by the fact that Steven and I had never seen each other naked. We chatted with our neighbors as we applied sunscreen and settled into the scene. The crowd on this part of the shore was younger, a mix of men and women, all friendly and eager to welcome us to their favorite spot. With our motivation still high, and the sun still strong, we waded into the water, probably shrieking as we submerged our thighs, then our waists, then our torsos.
This, I decided, was pure bliss. I loved almost nothing more than to swish my body through the water, unencumbered by a swimsuit, letting every inch of my skin soak in the sensations.
