Eightysecond

The beach. It's where less clothing is not only acceptable but pretty much mandatory. It's a place where getting wet and dirty (or at least sandy) is fun. There are a wide variety of outfits one could wear, or in the right country, one could go nude. I suppose if one is going to get wet, one would rather wear clothing that is comfortable when wet; the beach is really one of the few places in life where one willingly strips down to the equivalent of underwear and struts around in front of people, even people one might not do so with otherwise.

Think about it, you wouldn't go in your underwear in front of your parents, and vise versa. There might be friends of yours that you'd never let them catch you in your underwear, but you might not even think much about it if they saw you at the beach. You might be self-conscious about how skimpy your swimwear is, but it wouldn't bother you as much as it would if they saw you in skimpy underwear.

The point is; it seems to me that there lies inside of people (n0t all mind you but a good sized percentage) the need or desire to undress and get wet. Or maybe you're not one for getting wet and it's the suntan you're looking for. Either way, you've got that same sort of desire within you. Humanity has even gone so far as to create "the pool". This is for people in the city, or perhaps the nearest lake is not so nice, and so they make this "the pool" so that they can continue on with their stripping and getting wet needs. Others invented the "tan bed place" so they could satisfy their stripping and tanning needs. Well... I suppose you'd really have to strip down if you wanted a tan. Doesn't work too well with clothing. But still, the need is there and is being met artificially.

Me? Not really. I used to be into swimming and the beach, and sometimes I get that bit of a craving, but most often I ignore it. I really only get that desire if I'm somewhere close to a lake. Most likely though, that desire can easily be satisfied by canoeing or just walking around on the beach. And the only tan I get is called a "farmer's tan".

I'll just stick to hiking and biking and not stripping down and getting wet. Probably.

Here's the moment you've all been waiting for! It's the WOTD:

Panegyric - (n) a eulogistic oration or writing

Today also brings us a new haiku:

Bird pecking at ground

Finding seeds also berries

Gravel in the mix.