So, because of our unique connection and reputation with nudist parks, we are always keen to find one near places we may be touring and check them out. We did find one such place in Idaho and were fortunate enough to be asked to come play. Due to the nature of the gig, there are no photos. (Sorry fans!) But you can take our word that it was a wonderful show, and quite a surprise to a bunch of people who had no idea what to expect from a “Glam Folk” duo out of Tacoma, WA.
My favorite part of that day actually had nothing to do with the show. The load-in was a bit rough, and it took quite a bit of effort to get parked, let alone get our gear to the stage. So, we all worked up a bit of a sweat doing so. Once all the gear was to brought to the stage, we told Rudy he could go up to the pool and swim while we set up all the equipment. He gladly agreed and headed up to the pool; bucket hat, Crocs, sunscreen, a sarong, and a smile. At one point, Jared was warming up his trombone (Jared here: Literally. Not in any kind of metaphoric and highly inappropriate way.), and Rudy’s little voice shouted from up at the pool, “Soundin’ great, dad!” While Rudy was up at the pool, he and some ladies began tossing a ball over a volleyball net that was across the pool and just casually making conversation and having a good time. Before he knew it, several others had joined and, by the time Jared and I got up to the pool, Rudy and eight other adults were involved in a full game of water volleyball, laughing, giving each other a hard time, and altogether having a blast! I was so happy to see our little confident man just having a grand old time and being treated with respect and equality by the adults. Jared jumped in the pool to even out the teams and joined the volleyball game on the team opposite Rudy. Father pitted against son in a battle to the death…ok, so not that. But they’ve been rewatching the original Star Wars films, and it’s just where my brain went.
Whenever we talk about the nudist parks that we’ve attended with Rudy, the number one question we get asked is, “Do you make Rudy get naked?”, or, “How does Rudy handle all of that?” Well, it’s pretty simple. We have been bringing him around those kinds of places since he was a baby, so he doesn’t see it as “weird”, “awkward”, or “unnatural”. However, with his changing body and his ever-widening observation skills, it’s no secret that he sees more, takes more in, and has very strong feelings and opinions about the world around him. That doesn’t just go away at a nudist park. So we encourage him to always check in with himself and his feelings, be honest about what he thinks, and then let his instincts direct him. This is all to say that we never force Rudy to “get naked”, which even sounds terrible as I type it. There have been years when he has declined the invitation to attend our beloved “Nudestock”, and although we love having him with us, we always respect him. In years of late, he has shown great confidence in himself and is not ashamed or timid. Initially, he takes a bit to get used to it, but so do I. I truly think Jared is the only one out of the three of us who would live his life in the buff if there were no consequences. Perhaps it’s all the years he spent in “mooning” training! To know Jared is to have witnessed his bare butt sneaking a peek every now and then. “Rain or shine, he’ll show his behind”… please don’t expect these lyrics to appear in any CS tune, although, I may have just come up with his new burlesque tagline…
Since we have no pictures of the gig* / park / volleyball game, here are some darling pictures of the dogs we left behind that we love so very much.
*(Jared here: By the way, the gig went very well, everyone was very sweet and lovely, even helping us carry our gear for the difficult load-out, and it’s fairly likely we’ll be playing there again.)
We have a few days off ahead and I’m not sure when we’ll be able to grab some WiFi, or if our stories will even be entertaining enough to blog about, but if not, I’ll lie. See you soon Dutch John, Utah!
