World Naked Gardening Day 2025

World Naked Gardening Day

Today, the first Saturday in May, is World Naked Gardening Day.  Being able to feel the sun and the breeze all over makes doing garden chores so much nicer, like shoveling ...

and rototilling to prepare a garden bed ...

and planting seedlings ...

and tying a plant to a trellis ...

and watering ...

and more watering.  What?  It's good for the plants, as reported in Scientific American in a July 2010 article titled "Gee Whiz: Human Urine Is Shown to Be an Effective Agricultural Fertilizer."

And weeding ...

and mowing the lawn ...

and raking up leaves, like Derek and Tony above.  Happy gardening!

Hiking - Part 66

 Haystack Mountain, Vermont

This is another naked hike by Jim Bornholdt, whom we have seen before.  A few years ago, after a cancer diagnosis, Jim decided to embrace the idea of naked hiking, which he had done a few times before.  For him, shedding his clothes was symbolic of shedding fears and negative baggage.  He calls it "forest bathing", and he relishes the freedom of going into and out of the sunshine and feeling the forest energy across his skin.

He lives in Connecticut, but he found that public nudity is legal in Vermont (as long as you don't engage in "lewd and lascivious conduct"), and Vermont has many wonderful hiking trails, so he began hiking the Vermont trails naked and publishing photos of his hikes on his blog called Baring It All in the Woods.

Today we see Jim's hike to the summit of Haystack Mountain in August, 2022.  As always, Jim posts a "naked hiker" sign at the beginning of the trail to warn people.  And as always, people he met on the trail had no problem with his nudity.

Here's Jim hiking up the trail.  On the way up, he met a couple with a dog, a single male, a friendly couple who chatted with him, three younger males and three friendly older gents who chatted with him.

There was no one else on the rocky summit when Jim arrived.

The view from the summit.  Then another couple arrived at the summit.  They were friendly and said they had seen the "naked hiker" sign and were curious if it was a male or female hiker.

On the way back down, Jim met a large group of women who turned out to be from a bridal shower.  Jim joked that he was the bridal shower entertainment, and they all laughed.

He continued meeting hikers, including this couple, Rob and Lisa, who chatted with him and agreed to take a selfie with him.  Jim wrote that it was a fantastic day.

Lei Day 2025

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Not the Same Old Song - Part 60

You Really Got a Hold On Me

The 1962 song You Really Got a Hold on Me by Smokey Robinson became a top 10 hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.  It was later selected as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll."  It was also recorded in 1963 by the Beatles, but I'm using the original Miracles version.

My interpretation of who has a hold on what may be a little different from what Smokey Robinson had in mind.

 

Weighing In - Part 68

 Arnold Allen

Arnold Billy Allen, born in 1994, is a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter from England in the featherweight division.  He's very successful, having won 20 out of 23 fights.  Here he is weighing in.  I couldn't find any pictures of him weighing in naked.  So why is he here?  You'll see.

Here he is scratching an indelicate location while being interviewed.

He has a sense of humor.  He posted this photo of himself on his Twitter page strategically posed next to someone's decorated car.

His father, Pacer Allen,is a professional strongman.  Here's Arnold with his father and his father's pit bull.

And here's what inspired today's post: Arnold Allen and the dog in his father's yard.

Poem of the Day - Part 68

 Fire and Ice
by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,  

I think I know enough of hate

    To say that for destruction ice

Is also great                      

        And would suffice.

Artists - Part 71

 Prehistoric Art

In 1940, four French teenagers stumbled upon a cave that their dog had gone into.  The Lascaux cave contained astonishing paintings such as the bulls above, shining a spotlight on prehistoric art, a subject that had previously been neglected.  The Lascaux cave paintings are estimated to date from 20,000-15,000 BC.

Much prehistoric art features animals, like the Lascaux cave paintings.  Of the human figures, females dominate, such as the Venus of Willendorf, said to be the world's earliest erotic art (25,000 BC).

But there are also male figures, such as this hunter with an erect penis, depicted next to a bull in the Lascaux cave.

Another French prehistoric site is the Grotte du Sorcier (Sorcerer's Cave).  Above is the Sorcerer figure from that cave, dated at 15,000-10,000 BC.

It's sometimes hard to see the figures when they are just scratched into the rock, so tracings are made of them.  Above, tracings of the Sorcerer, showing his prominent penis, made in 1953 by Father Andre Glory, who discovered the carving.  By the way, the name Sorcerer was given to the figure by Father Glory; it was not actually a prehistoric sorcerer.

Another tracing of a figure with a prominent penis.  This one is called the Man of Piscos, carved into rock above the Piscos River in Portugal.  It's thought to date from 20,000 BC.

Somewhat more recent (but still ancient) paintings of men with penises from Cingle de la Mola in Spain, dating from 7000-4000 BC.

The previous examples are from Europe, but prehistoric art has been found around the world.  Above, a figure from the "Magnificent Gallery" of rock art near Laura, Australia.  The figure has a noticeable penis.

A bit below the previous figure is a white figure with a penis, and above him, a brown figure with what appears to be an extraordinarily long penis.  This rock art gallery dates to 20,000 BC.

Are you starting to get the idea that prehistoric people were not ashamed to be naked?

We end with the Sayburç reliefs, a carving in southeastern Turkey dating to the ninth millennium BC.  It is said to be the earliest depiction of a narrative scene.

And among the animals and human figures is this man.  What's he doing?  He's masturbating.  Even 10,000 years ago, guys jerked off.