Reluctance and Hesitation

[Alf]

I was camping at Green Lake last weekend under a sunny sky enjoying early summer warmth. I was the only nude person at my campsite, and that was acceptable to my wife and friends. I was nude all day Saturday until cool air set in after dusk. Aside, I'll say that the mosquitoes were very much at work around the time of sunset.

The reluctance was not mine. It was that I noticed another camper, a man, sharing a site with a lady that could have been his wife, that this man was about to skinny dip when I was paddling in a kayak and came into his view. I was well off shore, but I'm absolutely certain that he recognized that I was nude in the kayak. I certainly saw him begin to remove his shorts in preparation for a quick dip, but when he saw me, he immediately pulled up his shorts and waited for me to pass by before he finally stripped and dipped. I saw at a distance that he finally took to the water.

So why did he choose to hesitate rather than dive in whilst I was in view? He knew that I was from the other campsite because we'd met on Friday to say hello as neighbouring campers (I was wearing shorts then), so I'm pretty sure that I was not offending him. I think he reacted just as he would have if any other boat would have passed by.

Penny for your thoughts?

Cheers,

Alf

[eyesup]

Maybe he is a newbie and is still working on the "oh my gawd someone just saw me naked in the forest", response.  Or maybe it was just a knee jerk reaction.

Did you encounter him again either close up or far? And, if so, did he react the same?
Subsequent meetings might shed some light on this. If he keeps reacting the same he must still be working on the ingrained panic we all have felt in the beginning at being seen.

If he calmed down and was less nervous, it might be you just startled him. Or maybe the companion was unaware of his actions. He might have been preparing to surprise her with an invitation to join him.

Speculation could go on.

Duane

[ric]

some people have body image issues and/or just dont want to be seen naked by anyone else, though are happy to be naked when they think theyre alone.

[jbeegoode]

You might have paid him a visit and spoke of it.Ambassador of the nude.
Jbee

[nuduke]

Maybe he was short sighted and taken his glasses off to swim.  Your naked state might have been just a blur so he chose discretion with the trousers!

John

[Alf]

I greeted him at the beginning of the weekend. I was then wearing clothes. The couple was very friendly and though I didn't say anything about nudity, they must have seen me many times after that when I was nude, skinny dipping, paddling, or possibly when I was relaxing at camp. I think it was a Pavlovian, or predictable, response.

Cheers,

Alf

[reubenT]

Force of habit, our society tells us to hide certain parts of us with cloth and we get in the habit of it.  It takes intentional deliberate action to change an old habit.   Have to decide I want to make a change and then intentionally do it,  and keep repeating until a new habit replaces the old one.