An economist is a man who states the obvious in terms of the
incomprehensible.
-- Alfred A. Knopf

It's easier to put on slippers than to carpet the whole world.
-- Al Franken

The power of hiding ourselves from one another is mercifully given, for men
are wild beasts, and would devour one another but for this protection.
--Henry Ward Beecher

It's not the hours you put in your work that counts, it's the work you put
in the hours.
-- Sam Ewing

When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to
seek it elsewhere.
-- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end of it.
-- Spock, Star Trek 6

I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it
comes from within. It is there all the time.
-- Anna Freud

To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything
else.
-- Burnadette Devlin

If your outgo exceeds your income then your upkeep will be your downfall.
-- Darrell Friend

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his
life by altering his attitudes of mind.
-- William James

Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.
Second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience.
-- Oscar Wilde

============

Mark K writes to DOMAI:

It was my first attempt at photographing a female but I was unable to find
just the right person. I wanted someone with a personality I could capture
in the pictures. I had searched for a while, finding one that would catch my
eye, engage her in conversation, only to find the sparkle I was looking for
wasn't there.

I was passing through our capital city on a road trip and stopped in one of
the bar/grills that featured the servers in those skimpy shorts and low
scooped tops. Now don't get me wrong, all the girls were pretty in their own
way, but none of them had the "look" I was wanting. Except for the young
lady who was my server.

It was like she came out of nowhere. I'm sure my mouth dropped when she came
to the table and I did the best I could to maintain eye contact, but she had
me at "Hi, my name is Mandy and I'll be your server today." She was flat out
gorgeous. She took my order and I was falling in love. She returned to the
table with a box of napkins and silverware. They had to be wrapped for the
evening so she decided to do it at my table. We talked. I discovered she was
22, had two small children, and was a single mom. She was working on a
business degree and planned on moving in to management. She was smart,
articulate and looked great in the outfit! I had completely forgot about
photography.

She went to get my food when it was ready and I came to myself - she would
be perfect for my first shoot. She returned, dropped off the meal and left
to go greet some new customers. I ate my food but my mind was reeling. She
came back and we talked some more. I finished up and really hated to go but
my scheduled required me to keep moving that day. She let me know when I was
back through I was welcome to sit in her area. I assured her I would.

I continued my search for my first model but nobody quite measured up to
Mandy. I then decided to make regular trips back to the capital city and to
eat there. Each trip I stopped and got her area. We talked more and wanted
her to get comfortable with me. I learned a little more about her each time
and grew to admire her for the inner strength she possessed in overcoming
the obstacles in her live. She loved her girls, she loved life. After about
6 months, in February I decided it was time to approach the subject.

We talked about photography and I even brought a portfolio of some stills I
had done and explained I would like to do more but with live models. She
replied something about how cool that would be and she thought I would do a
great job. So I popped the question, "Would you like to be my first model?"
To my great surprise, she said, "Sure!" We set up a time for her day off and
I would make the trip up and we would go downtown and use some of the
backdrop there.

The day went off without a hitch. I had her bring several outfits and I
bought her an evening dress. The night shots with her in the high heels were
amazing. We had finished and I hooked up my laptop to the camera to take a
look at the work. Mandy was amazed at herself. We agreed to do another one
of these soon and I packed up and headed home.

In a couple of trips I had taken my tent and went to a near by campground.
During some hiking I had found a nice set of descending pools as the water
flowed over a cliff. There were three pools and the water flowed from a
stream at the top. It dropped into each pool like a fountain. It was one of
the most beautiful places around - and a perfect setting for photography.

My next conversation with Mandy was over the phone, I wanted to make the
suggestion for this without her needing to deliver an immediate answer. I
told her where I wanted to do the next round and asked if she was familiar
with the camp ground. She said she was and thought it would be nice to do
some there. I mentioned the three pools and asked if she would consider a
swim suit this time. She said she wasn't sure - she had been in a contest at
the restaurant and came in third. I told her that didn't matter, this was
just a photo shoot. If she didn't like the pictures, we would delete them
and they would never be seen again. She was comfortable enough with me now
she agreed. The plan was to meet at the camp site and go from there.

A couple of weeks had passed and I wasn't sure if she would show up. But, I
knew if she did she'd had plenty of time to think about it and was ready.
Sure enough, 10 AM rolled around and her car pulled in. She jumped out with
a bag and a sundress on. I could see the tie to her swimsuit sticking up in
the back. I smiled, we hugged and headed up to the pools. We arrived at the
spot and she asked where I wanted to start. I showed her the place and the
sundress came off to reveal a nice one piece that fit her perfectly. We
spent an hour using the rising sun and shade to do some work. The
temperature was perfect. I must have taken around 200 shots when she let me
know she had brought a two piece as well. She offered to change and I, not
being a complete fool, told her that would be great. She slipped off and
changed. When she returned, well let me say, she did a lot for that bikini.
My camera was rolling. Soon I had to change memory cards. When I said so she
said she would be right back. My first thought was another bikini?

She came back with the sundress pressed up against her. She looked so
innocent and pure. Truly the most beautiful female I'd ever had the pleasure
of seeing with my eyes in person. She said in a very small voice, "I'd like
to some with the sundress." I said sure, my card was changed and I was ready
to go. She went a little further and said, "Would you mind if we did some
like this?" She lowered the dress half way to reveal she had nothing on. She
told me she had always wanted to do some but needed somebody she could trust
to take them. I was in Nirvana and I couldn't respond. She took it as I was
preparing to say, "No," and so added, "Please?" I stammered for a moment and
then finally managed to get out a "Yeah, anything you want to do." We spend
a good 30 minutes with the dress draped around her revealing different parts
of her body with each different pose. Then she wanted to lose the dress
altogether. She moved around the landscape like the water flowed from the
pools. My camera was able to video part of it as well as do the stills. By
now it had gotten warm enough tiny beads of perspiration were appearing on
her skin. I suggested she take a dip to cool off. She suggested I join her.

I stammered and stalled for a while, now being in my 40's my form wasn't
what it used to be. I told her it had been a while since I had been
swimming like that. She eventually coaxed me enough I slipped in. I hadn't
realized how warm I had gotten while taking the video and pictures. I
watched her swim and float in the pool. She was so graceful and smooth in
her movements I was simply awed. Here was the female form, innocent, pure,
and I was getting a close up and personal view. Looking through the lens, I
realized I had missed something. I hoped I had caught it on camera though.
When we had cooled off sufficiently and decided to call it a day - she rose
up out of the pool away from me. The water drained from away her body and
the resulting glistening was astounding. Beauty personified was the only
thing I could think of at the time. Which is what I named the shoot when she
let me take the pictures.

While I've done many since, I have yet to meet her match. We usually do a
shoot or two a year just for fun now and stay in touch. She has her degree
and is doing quite well. It's tough when the first is the best, but I got
lucky.

- Mark K

==================

Paul M. writes to DOMAI

I have been a regular visitor to your website for some time now, and I very
much relate to your philosophy of beauty, nudity, and innocence. I admire
the work you are doing, and I would like to share with you (and your
readers, if you wish) the story of an experience I had many years ago, when
I was a first year university student.

At the time, I was living in a small rented house that I was sharing with
two other students. One of them, Erin, was a first-year student like me. She
had read hair that she usually wore in a ponytail, lots of freckles, and a
beautiful open smile that was often accompanied by a kind of knowing and
almost mischievous sparkling of the eyes. She came from some small town, and
was clearly enjoying her new life in this bigger city, although this did not
in any way compromise her natural and uncomplicated demeanor. The other
housemate, Karen, was one year ahead of us in her studies, and we considered
her a seasoned expert on all things regarding university life. She clearly
enjoyed her role as a kind of mentor for Erin and me, and she had many older
friends that came to the house, and with whom she often spent the weekends.
Her hair was chestnut brown and straight and fell down to below her
shoulders, and she had a perfect face with dark brown eyes and short,
assertive eyebrows. She was about my height, slightly taller than Erin, and
carried herself with great confidence and ease.

One day in late summer, the three of us went on a hike outside the city. We
had been on several such hikes before, and we already knew each other quite
well by this time, and so we walked and chatted comfortably about this and
that as we followed a footpath that led up the side of a small mountain.
There were trees on both sides of the path, and the air was warm in a
saturated sort of way. We were in t-shirts and shorts, and we were carrying
nothing except a bag of sandwiches, which we were planning to eat once we
reached the top of the mountain. Karen was high-spirited and even a bit
rowdy; she had just finished a week of mid-term assignments, and clearly she
was glad to leave work behind and be a free person for the rest of the
weekend. She was jumping on every tree stump and rock along the way, and
after a while, she started played good-natured tricks on us, like hiding
behind a large rock and pelting us with dried pine cones.

Of course, Erin and I could not let such a challenge go unanswered,
resulting in a minor pine cone battle. Karen's mood was contagious, and by
the time we reached a little clearance at the top of the mountain, we were
all laughing and chasing each other around until we were completely out of
breath and dropped in the grass. At this point, I looked up and realized
what a stunningly beautiful place we had arrived at. Karen and Erin must
have realized the same, because suddenly, everyone was completely quiet as
we were lying on our backs in the grass, gazing at the edge of the clearing
and beyond, where we could see fields and roads and villages stretching to
the horizon, and a river glittering in the sun. We could hear nothing but
the humming of some insects in the warm air above us, and some church bells
and a dog barking in the very far distance. I don't know how long we
remained listening and watching like this to the beauty of the natural and
man-made world around us, but it was one of those rare and truly magical
moments where time stretches and seconds become minutes or hours.

It was Karen who eventually broke the silence. By now, it must have been
about 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun was still strong. Karen
announced that her face and arms were getting sun-tanned, and that she
wouldn't mind tanning herself "properly", and whether we would do the same.
Assuming that this meant she would tan herself in her underwear, I agreed
that this was indeed a very good idea. Erin also thought it was a reasonable
suggestion. Perhaps some people might consider it a bit unusual to strip to
your underwear in front of your friends, but after all, we were housemates,
and we had seen each other in underwear many times before, so we did not
think much of it. So the three of us proceeded to take off our shirts and
shorts. However, nothing had prepared me for what happened next.

As Erin was getting ready to settle in the grass again in her pink bra and
panties, and I was looking for a suitable spot to lie down, Karen, who was
wearing a white bra and white boxer shorts, proceeded to take of her boxer
shorts and then turned her back to me asking me to unhook her bra. I
remember this moment as clearly as if it had been yesterday. Her behind was
round and tanned and beautiful, with perfectly smooth and silky cheeks, and
for a moment I thought I would faint. She shifted her weight impatiently,
and as she did so, the muscles in her backside flexed and caused a little
dimple on the side of one of her flawless buttocks. It took another
impatient shrug from Karen to awake me from my state of shock, and Karen
asked if I was maybe offended by her nudity.

I quickly assured her that I was not the least bit offended, only stunned by
her beauty and cheek, at which point we all laughed at the double meaning of
the word "cheek". The laughter at my unintended joke not only helped me
relax, but apparently it had the same effect on Karen, because she now spoke
without any more hint of impatience as she said, "Well, if you are not
offended, then would you please go ahead and help me take my bra off?" So I
helped her take it off, and she turned around and stood there before us as
naked as a person can be.

Her breasts were full and firm, yet not excessively large, with small brown
nipples that were standing up proudly. Her chestnut hair was falling from
one of her shoulders halfway towards her nipples. Her body was fresh and
slim, and she had a beautiful flat belly with a belly button that was an
"inny". I had of course seen her belly before, but never in such delightful
context. Her pubic area was completely shaved. [As a side note: much later,
I asked her why she had shaved her pubic hair, and she explained that she
has the area waxed every summer so that no hair would show along her bikini
line. I have, however, never seen any tan lines or other evidence of a
bikini on her body, neither on that first occasion nor at any later time,
although she was always tanned. I think perhaps the real reason was for
personal preference or comfort. In any case, this is not important, and I
should stop digressing.]

As Karen turned around and faced me and Erin that day, her natural beauty,
amazing as it already was, was further enhanced by her attitude; she was
entirely unashamed and comfortable with herself and did not act any
differently than before. In fact, at this very moment, she picked up a bunch
of pine cones that were left over from our previous battle, and started
throwing them at the lightly clad Erin and myself. I must say, these things
can hurt a bit on naked skin when they are skillfully thrown. Half-joking,
Karen shouted that we had promised that if she took her clothes off, we
would do the same, and that she would keep hurling prickly pine cones at us
until we followed up on our promise. I was again stunned, partly by the
unexpected attack, and partly by the sight of Karen, who in her nudity was
no less quick than before in gathering up and throwing cones. As she moved
lithely, she used all of the muscles in her body, and it was a beautiful
sight to see them flex in animation. Meanwhile, the pine cones were raining
down on us, and something had to be done about it quickly.

To my next surprise, it was Erin, who had been following the scene with
quiet amusement up to this point, who ended the attack by making a bold
move. She said something about having gone skinny-dipping at the farm, and
before anyone could say another word, she slipped out of her pink bra and
panties, threw them behind her, and flashed one of her great freckly smiles
at me and Karen. Her eyes sparkled adventurously as she raised one of her
eyebrows in a gesture that probably meant, you are not getting the better of
me!

She looked beautiful. I already knew that her arms and legs were covered in
freckles, but I was delighted to see that she also had freckles all over her
upper chest and a few of them on her breasts, although her belly and hips
were completely freckle-free. Aside from this, her skin was completely
white. Her breasts were medium-sized and perky, with pink and surprisingly
large nipples. The sun that was falling on her breasts made two beautiful
round shadows on her rib cage that gave way to a white and flat belly, which
one could see rising and ebbing as she was still catching her breath from
this sudden burst of activity. Below her belly, she had a delicate tuft of
red hair that looked very pretty next to the green grass, and the effect was
enhanced by the warm rays of the sun that were touching it.

While I was taking in the beautiful sight of their two bodies, I remember
thinking how lucky and blessed I was to be there, at this moment, with these
two women who were good friends, and who didn't seem to be the least bit
concerned about letting me see the incredible natural beauty of their
bodies. No sexual thoughts entered my mind; I simply admired them as they
were, looking comfortable and natural in the thick summer air, to which the
magical landscape around us added a sense of serenity and innocence. Erin
was again looking at Karen, who was looking back at her, and it was clear
whom the two of them would gang up against next. I felt a slight surge of
panic as I realized that it was now my turn to get naked in front of them.
While I had not been raised to be ashamed of my body, I certainly had never
been naked in front of a person of the opposite gender before (aside from my
parents, presumably). I felt some inhibition that must have made me blush,
but after the initial panic had passed, I could really uncover no
deep-seated objection to the idea. On the contrary, it was hard not to be
inspired by the example of the women, who were demonstrating so well that
there was nothing to be ashamed of. Probably only a second or two passed
while all this went through my mind, and without further prompting, I took a
deep breath, attempted a shrugging gesture as if to say "okay, I give up!",
and dropped my remaining piece of clothing to the cheers of the two ladies.

We spent the rest of the afternoon naked at that clearing, sitting, talking,
tanning ourselves, and exploring the nearby area. I was amazed at how good
it felt to be nude outdoors. One thing I had never imagined is how special
the warm wind feels on one's body with no clothes on. After one minute, I
was already completely used to being nude and had forgotten any notion of
bashfulness or hiding my body. The women did not show any inhibitions
either, and we soaked up every moment of sun that was there. Erin had some
sun-screen with her, which is a necessity for a person of her skin-type. She
asked me to apply it to her back while she was lying flat on her stomach. I
started at the neck and worked my way towards the soles of her feet, while
Karen watchfully ensured that I did not miss any spot. Erin's lower back was
slightly arched and the curve naturally led to her behind, which was
gloriously well-shaped and as firm to the touch as it was joyful to look at.
From there, I continued rubbing the sunscreen into her athletic legs, where
Erin was a bit ticklish behind the knees and around the ankles. She clearly
enjoyed this non-sexual touch, as she was cooing and had half fallen asleep
by the time I was finished. At this point, Karen remembered the sandwiches
that we had brought, and we ate them hungrily while discussing various
people we knew, and what they would think if they knew what we were up to.

Almost nobody else came to the clearing that day, except an older couple,
who greeted us very cheerfully and did not seem to be in the least disturbed
by our nudity, and a woman in her twenties with a dog. The woman asked us
straight-facedly for directions and initially tried ignoring our complete
state of undress, only to burst out laughing half-way through the
conversation and telling us how she thought it was wonderful and brave of us
to enjoy nature, as she put it, the way it was obviously intended. She was
very friendly, and I think she had a half mind to join us, but in the end
she decided not to and went her way.

After that day, we never wore much clothes around the house, except when
there were people over that we did not know well. This seemed very natural;
after having spent some quality nude time together, it seemed silly to worry
about such rituals as putting on a bathrobe to go from one room to another,
or not going in the shower when there was someone in there. Most of our
close friends sooner or later found out about our carefree attitude, and
some of them even ended up joining us for the occasional nude outing. As we
progressed through university, we continued to live in the same house. We
often went back to that clearing at the top of the mountain, sometimes with
other people, and we often went nude there, but while it was always nice and
fun to be there, the place never again quite held the same magic as that
very first time.

So what became of us? Erin showed more and more of her adventurous side as
the years went by, and she had a series of boyfriends, many of whom we
housemates became quite friendly with. Karen got herself a boyfriend at the
end of her second year, and stayed with him until she graduated. They both
went on to medical school, and although I lost touch with Karen soon after
she graduated, I heard that they later married. In our final year at
university, Erin and I fell in love with each other, and we got married the
following year. We have now been happily married for over 15 years, and we
still love to remember those carefree and fun times we had during our
university days, living in the house with Karen, and especially that first
time we went nude on the mountain together.

Paul M.

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