Back-to-School 2020

Back-to-School Fashion 2020

Because I will be teaching all of my college courses online this fall, I'll save quite a few bucks on car expenses, lunches, and, above all, new clothes. I've been called a bit of a fashonista (okay, clothes horse), accused of dressing too young ("...you dress like your students....") and, of course, an exhibitionist (or slut). Seems to me there is not much point in buying new clothes right now if you can't enjoy wearing them out, in public, for everyone to see.

My teen friend, Trouble, is dealing with the prospect of not returning to face-to-face classes this fall too. She told me, "... back to school shopping was something I looked forward to ... mom would let me buy new clothes because I grew out of my old ones. It was fun finding cute outfits." But more than the clothes issue, Trouble is upset about the social issues. "How can I keep my friends? How can I live a normal life if I can't be with my friends at school? We can't go to school, the mall, a movie, nothing!"

Her mom asked me what I thought about the state, perhaps, requiring schools to open and telling students they must attend regardless of the status of virus infections locally. I said something clever like, "it sucks." I wasn't surprised when she asked if I would help home school Trouble if it came to that. Trouble's mom is military and not willing to take any crap from our failed governor in order to boost bar business. And, of course, I'll be home anyway, "Yes, I'll be happy to help teach Trouble."

So there it is. No final decision has been made by local schools except that they will open in August: fully online for now. And Trouble -- apparently with a friend or two of hers -- are my first high school students. Did I mention Trouble insisted two of her girlfriends who are rigidly sheltered-at-home by their families, want in on the deal? I think I have some planning to do.

I'm hoping Jeep Girl might be able to offer some suggestions as she is teaching fully online this fall too.

One thing for sure that is going to be part of the curriculum is "How to Cut Girl's Hair at Home." There are some very good YouTube videos on this!

As for back-to-school fashions, I suppose new masks might be fun. Our school uniforms will probably be shorts and tees and flip-flops, the official Arizona year round go to outfit for women. But, who knows, maybe we can have a weekly dress up day for fun, to help us feel normal and, as Luna says, "cute and powerful."

Boatman

I'm an official boatman now! No, not a boatwoman, but a female boatman. A boatman who was supposed to row on our trip injured herself just before launch so I was asked to row her boat down 46 miles of river, including class III-IV whitewater. Was I nervous? Sure. Was I thrilled to do it? You bet. Did I learn anything? Hell yes. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

I traded my bikinis for longer shorts, long-sleeved shirts, and boating gloves for sun protection. Rowing requires being seated with oars at all times, so the ability to move about to protect the skin is limited. I worked hard, played hard, and slept better than I have in months. There was no connectivity anywhere on the river and no one brought a radio. We were completely cut off from the world for five days. Heaven.

The days were warm, in the 90s, and the evenings were cool. The stars were brilliant, as was the comet Neowise. The skies wanted to rain, but we only saw virga teasing the parched canyon landscape.

No, I did not get laid. My friend and I talked about it. We decided we were comfortable without sex on this trip. It seemed a bit offbeat, for both of us, yet we were completely content. Go figure, relationships can be odd and funny and wonderful at the same time. Life lessons, you know? I'm home and content but awfully randy.

And it started raining cats and dogs this morning, almost two inches since 6 am. The monsoon rains of Arizona are exhilarating with thunder and lightning, winds, and torrential downpours. It makes being randy even harder to bear.

I must have been in the glow of the river trip yesterday as I was going to post a lingerie photo, with touching, drinking a beer, to express my mood. Facebook slammed me with a 30-day suspension again. Here's the photo. Yeah, I know better.

Star Inara is in jail too. But, readers may want to check in on Ellen Arroway in Facebook. Ellie Arroway was the main character in the movie Contact. Her father's nickname for her is "Sparks." She is my namesake, thanks to my dad.

When the rain stops I'll go for a hike in the desert. The arroyos will be flooded and the wildlife will be coming out from cover. It's a delicious 72° now. If it continues to drizzle I'll wear my river sandals and a swimsuit and play in the rain.

It's so good to come home to monsoon rains and a cool, rainy walk. I think I can take a few more weeks of staying at home now. I wonder if Trouble wants to walk too?

Escape to the River

I'm escaping Arizona, the oppressive heat, and the rampant virus spiking to go whitewater rafting in northern Colorado. Everyone going on the trip lives in a state with almost no cases of COVID and I know all but two of them well. It should be a safe respite from the madness of life we have all been experiencing.

A boyfriend at university introduced me to whitewater rafting when I was twenty. He was a river guide and invited me to "swamp' for him on a commercial trip. A "swamper" helped run the trip, but it mostly consisted of heavy lifting, kitchen duty, and cleaning up the "groover," or shit can, each morning. I didn't mind. I got to go on trips that passengers were paying thousands of dollars for and paid nothing. Well, I had to fuck my boyfriend, but I would have done that anyway.

I swamped for several trips over three years. The boatmen, and boatwomen (sometimes called female boatmen) got to know me as a hard worker who was good with passengers and wore a fresh new bikini or sarong or "river dress" each day of the trip. I sexed up the trip. The exhibitionist in me flourished. Sometimes, when our groups could swim, I'd just get naked to see how many of them would join it. Many, many did.

I got to go on several different rivers in the west in Arizona, Utah and Colorado through the deep and wondrous canyons they carved. I enjoyed sun and stars, whitewater, and serene flat stretches of river quiet except for the call of a canyon wren. I learned to cook gourmet meals in Dutch ovens and lead hikes to secret pools and waterfalls in side canyons.

The nights with boatmen, male and female, after the passengers were in their sleeping bags were intense personal times of river stories, poetry, stargazing, and passing around a bottle of whatever alcohol we had. And, for me, more often than not, loving and sexing my crew. I had an intense affair with a lesbian boatman on one trip. On another, I let two boatmen share me each night doing all the things men imagine might happen in a ménage à trois. I worried for a while I'd become known as a river tramp or slut swamper, but the river community is an accepting one, of mostly kind men and women who have little interest in judging others. I was accepted on all of my crews with warmth and respect.

So, I'm off to the river for escape, release, excitement, wonder, and, well, you know. Yes, I will have a fresh, tiny bikini for each day and something cool and revealing for camp each night. I have to keep up my traditions, right?

Trader Joe's

I posted this on my Facebook page early this morning with the picture above:

I'm going shopping at Trader Joe's this morning before the temperature gets over 100°. Am feeling somewhat naughty, so I think wearing a cute pair of jammy bottoms and a short top will make the trip more fun. I hope they have their Hatch Chili Salsa in stock!

This is what happened at Trader Joe's:

So I'm standing in the check-out at Trader Joe's. When it's my turn to check out, the cashier pulls my basket to the counter, while I wait six feet

away. I hear a chuckle behind me and turn to see an elderly couple gawking at me and whispering. I catch the woman's eye and she says, through her mask, "I used to dress like that!" Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks lifted a bit -- I could tell she was grinning under her mask. Her husband's gaze was glued to my shorts but he looked up as the old woman spoke and gave me a big "thumbs up." I couldn't help it, I had to laugh out loud. I don't know why, I gave them a curtsy, turned back toward the cashier, and stood on tiptoe, leaning forward to emphasize my tush, which was peeking out of jammy bottoms. The cashier was motioning me forward so I moved up to pay. Before I left the store, I turned back with a naughty smile and waved at the couple. They were still staring. That made me so happy, I'm still savoring the kick of being cute and flirty and maybe a little slutty.

Jeep Girl Update

The heatwave blasting Arizona right now is draining my spirit a little. I'm having to get out for my daily hikes at 5 am to beat the oppressive heat. This morning it was already 86° as I headed out the door.

By 5:30 am I arrived at the little desert park near my neighborhood and found Sally, aka "Jeep Girl" busy on her iPhone, as usual. Seeing me she logged out of whatever social media she was on and joined me for a two-mile jaunt.

Over the last few days, we've opened up sharing our frustrations of the pandemic, staying-at-home, anticipation of the school year, and Clorox wipes. Neither of us has seen them in stores since February.  We laugh about things like this easily as our friendship grows.

We are both what she calls "clothes horses." Even hiking in the desert, I told her I like to feel, as Luna Gloaming says, "cute and powerful." I find myself wearing my cutest shorts and tops for our hikes and have noticed Sally might be doing the same.  It is said women dress for other women. Well yes, I sure am.

I haven't told her about my occasional exhibitionist ways yet nor have I mentioned my bisexuality. I sense she is straight as a girl can be, although, to be honest, our sexuality hasn't come up in conversation yet. Soon, maybe.

The problem with hiking with Sally or walking with Trouble recently is frustration. I can't help but be attracted to them both. Trouble is blossoming, but totally out of the question for the obvious reasons. I don't know Sally well, yet I'm attracted sexually, but don't want to blow a chance at a positive, new friendship because I'm horny.

Thankfully, one of my river running friends (with occasional benefits) has invited me to go on a river trip starting up in the backcountry of Colorado next week. We'll be isolated on a river with people from places that have virtually no COVID cases, so we should be as safe anyone can be these days. Getting out to enjoy a respite and an adventure is just what I need.

The river will be warm too, but not like Arizona. I can be happy living in just my river sandals. We'll see.

A Faux Burning Man July 4th

My outfit

Our idea was simple. We'd hold a "July 4th Faux Burning Man Celebration" that would include a costume parade, contest, a socially distanced and masked cocktail party by the pool (only 10 persons at a time) while streaming it to all our neighbors via Zoom. I am thrilled to report, it came off like clockwork and was crazy, sexy fun.

You see, I live a casita complex that caters to young(ish) professionals. We probably have more couples than singles now, almost all are Democrats or Independents politically, everyone tries to keep fit, and most are open-minded and fun-loving. We had 36 participate at our "Burning Man," all in costumes. Some wore sexy little outfits like mine, others crazy "Mad Max" like costumes, and several in tutus, including men, because they had seen that on a "Burning Man" photo page.

Three guys showed up in kilts wearing nothing else except two masks -- one on their face and one ... um... over their guy bits. That was way too much fun as all the girls had to peek. A few women attached feathers, flowers, lace, and such to swimsuits and their hair, wore silly hats, glasses or goggles, and clever, homemade masks. The "tutu people" had their outfits leftover from a Halloween thing. The girls in this group wore bikini tops and the guys glued on pasties that looked like big eyeballs!

Trouble, my 15-year-old young heartthrob, showed up in cutoff bib overalls that she cut into a "V" shape for a high-leg look on the front and cut high enough off in the back to expose about half of her little butt. Under this, she wore a tube top about as wide as duct tape. Cowboy boots with bare legs and a bobbed pink wig finished the look. Her mom told me she discouraged the outfit, but then, it was "Burning Man."

She and her sister wore matching cutout, sort of sling swimsuits with various chains, belts, ribbons, and strips of electrical tape here and there along with the required masks, goggles and combat boots.

The costume winners were a doctor and his wife (the doc I see on recycle Mondays). They came as doctors ala an angelic Rocky Horror in open lab coats with the sleeves cut off. Doc, I swear, wore a speedo and didn't look bad at all! His wife wore a slinky extremely high cut one piece. She had rock-solid thighs, so the look for her was super. They had angel wings and syringes of COVID-19 vaccine attached to their lab coats. Yes, they were angel doctors delivering the vaccine. As you might imagine, they were a hopeful, positive favorite.

Each person at the pool stayed for 15 minutes with drinks they brought themselves. And the whole thing was on Zoom via laptop set up in the casita nearest the pool so all could see the party when not at the pool.

Everyone who participated worked hard to make our socially distanced "Burning Man" a success. Having terrific neighbors makes sheltering at home so much easier. I'm thanking my lucky stars.

Doldrums

And the days roll on. Early morning walks followed by a few minutes on the stationary bike or the rowing machine. Coffee, breakfast, peeks at Instagram, Facebook, email. I try to do a little work on my courses for fall, all online now. Then I try to work on a script I'm developing that is still in the treatment outline stages. Lunch is only a second thought. And this day rolls on.

I'm enjoying getting to know Blue Jeep Sally on sunrise walks.

It's also been fun growing closer to two couples in the neighborhood as we plan our "Burning Man" 4th of July event. It will be a socially-distanced pool party with Zooming. Only 10 people at a time will be at the pool on a rotating basis. When not in the "10" neighbors will stay connected via Zoom. That was my idea! 

Trouble and her mom and aunt are planning some kind of coordinated outfits. I haven't decided what to wear yet, but it will involve goggles and a mask for sure. Going topless would be fun but I will be a good girl and cover-up. Although, I may shoot a few selfies without my top on the patio, just for fun, before the festival begins!

Writing this, now, my mind drifts, my existence caught in doldrums of summer heat and sheltering-at-home. A favorite scene from the film Emmanuelle wanders into my thoughts. My mind's eye sees Marie-Ange sitting with Emmanuelle in swinging wicker chairs, listless in the Thai heat, both wondrously innocent and beautiful. Marie-Ange looks a picture of Paul Newman in a magazine, then allows herself to slip into a sensuous trance and masturbate as Emmanuelle watches.

I've written about this before, I think. I've recreated that scene with lovers, both men, and women, since seeing that film when I was still a teen. I long to do that now, to fall into a waking dream with someone I care for and touch myself and watch them touch as well. There is no pressure, no obligation, no expectation except to share finding pleasure and release, then, perhaps cuddle and nap for a while.

Mutual Can Be Fun! This is an article in British Cosmo about the benefits of mutual masturbation.