Aug 14th: Naked in Nature!

So a lot of awesome things happened today, most specifically the fact that my beautiful niece Isla got to go on her first ever Brule River canoe ride.  She made it just past the next lodge and then the discomfort of sitting in her brand new life jacket started to get the better of her.  She was actually pretty good about it considering how uncomfortable I remember those things being as a child (let alone at 16 months). So I completely understand her desire to get out of the boat and be back at the lodge where life jackets were not required.

Once we got her out of the boat she still wanted to play with the water a bit.  We would throw pine cones into the river and waved good-bye to them as the current took them away.  Then we got into splashing the water by the dock - which lead to her getting back into her life jacket so that she could splash in the water with her parents.  She had a blast - probably because there was splashing involved and shed didn't have to sit down in it.

And of course after seeing her in the water, I felt the need for a swim in the river too.  I didn't stay in very long (especially after I saw a few leeches float by me where it was deep enough for me to swim).  But I did fully immerse myself which meant that I needed to take a quick shower afterwards!

And now we get into today's awesomism: Being naked in nature!  I'm not talking about skinny dipping or just taking your clothes and running around naked in the forest (though I'm sure that would be fun too).  I'm talking about having a good reason to be naked while still enjoying the sunshine, the breeze, and the fresh pine-filled air.  How do you do that?  With an outdoor shower!

If you have never used an outdoor shower before then you are missing out.  Almost every summer - whether we were here at Wisconsin at the Muskikiwiininni Lodge, or at the Whirlwind house in Cape Cod - we had the privilege of using an outdoor shower.  And it didn't matter which location we were in, the experience was never short of being awesome.  The smell of the river and the pine trees (or the smell of the ocean air with sensation of sand stuck between your toes) makes it an incomparable experience.  In fact, if I ever have my own house on the west coast - I will likely put it in a request to build an outdoor shower for it.  If for no other reason than to give guests the opportunity to experience how amazing it can be.

Thank you nature, for making my normal cleansing routine that much more amazing!