Chapter 3

The next morning when Bill and I took the Dandie Dinmonts for their walk, we made a point of stopping by my sister's cabin. As a point of apology for imposing the yappy Dandies on them, we also came with coffee-to-go from the snack stand beside the club house.

Megan and Don sat with Bill and me on chairs on the cabin porch while Gloria enjoyed the rapturous attention of Digger and Dozer on the lawn in front of us. The coffee tasted quite good at that hour of the morning.

"So how was your first night in a naturist resort?" asked Bill, genuinely curious.

"I slept well," Don replied, and added, "It was the first time sleeping nude for both of us. I found it very comfortable. How about you, hon?"

Megan's ears turned a bright shade of pink, but she gamely agreed, adding, "I didn't even remember I WAS naked until you mentioned it."

"Well, when we're finished the coffee, grab your towels, soap and shampoo, we'll head down to the shower shack and get cleaned up," announced Bill.

"The 'shower shack?'" Megan asked, tentatively.

We hustled the three down to a fairly basic structure located near the start of the trailer sites. Not really a shack, it consisted of a concrete slab with drainage, covered by a roof supported in a post-and-beam manner, with about twenty shower heads dangling from the open ceiling. The closest thing to walls was a single three-foot wall with a shelf wide and stable enough to hold your soap and shampoo, and another three-foot wall at the far end with hooks to hold the towels out of the shower stream. The other three sides were open to the elements.

Megan blinked at the facility. "We're supposed to shower HERE?" she demanded.

"Yes. No different from the shower beside the pool."

"But we'll be showering naked in public..." She suddenly realized how ridiculous the statement was. "I get it."

Bill had been part of the design team that set up the shower shack, and was proud to show off the features. He pointed out the solar water heating panels that supplied the warm water, and the windmill that provided all the power required to keep the pumps working and the night lights burning. The water came from a well; the waste was carefully treated before being released back into the local stream, as clean as the stuff from the well.

Her daughter and husband were quick to stand under the shower heads, adjusting the temperature. It didn't take anyone long at all to get used to showering in this manner. The Dandies played happily at our feet, enjoying the spray as much as anyone.

A pair of young ladies walked up to the shower shack as we were soaping up, both about 16 years of age. I recognized them as Gymnos students.

"Ellen!" one of them cried.

"Hello, ladies!" I introduced my sister's family to Josie and Mary-Jane.

"You go to school here?" Megan asked. "Do you live in the dorms?"

Josie didn't. "My parents both work in town and live here. My sister and I both go to Gymnos. Julie's in Grade 8 — she's going into Grade 9 next year."