Nudity

Tomorrow is the summer solstice. Also, Father's Day. But some will observe it as Naked Hiking Day. I forgot all about it, but the Post Gazette had a brief article about it in the paper edition. Naked Hiking Day is a big tradition among Appalachian Trail thru-hikers. Officials say it's not much of a problem because people are usually hiking in rather isolated areas when they do this, and very few people see them. I personally did not hike naked on our thru-hike, but I think it was because we were wading through patches of poison ivy at the time. There definitely is a time and a place for clothing.

Anyway, I was thinking about this because I recently heard a lady call into a local radio show the other day complaining about some Pittsburgh police officers who had arrested a naked man in Squirrel Hill and had neglected to cover him up. A bus full of children went by and saw him, she said, his front! My first thought was, "So what? Kids saw a naked guy."

I am a little worried that becoming a parent will turn me into this lady, however. Not that I'll be encouraging my child to run around naked (although having known quite a few little people in the 2-5 year old range, I'm guessing she will do this on her own quite readily). I just don't want to freak out over stupid stuff.