Nudists, in Germany and New York

choi

(1) My Foreign-Exchange Family, the Nudist; Lydia Millet on landing in a clothing optional household. Wall Street Journal, Mar 2, 2013.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 18511850072702.html
("There was a code of eye contact: You didn't ogle people below the neck when you talked to them. You kept your eyes fixed firmly on their faces. But of course you looked later, when you thought no one was paying attention. I remember noticing old and middle-aged bodies and feeling sorry for their owners: how tragic to be so saggy, bulgy and wrinkly. How strange to be apparently proud of the condition, rather than mortified by it")

Note:
(a)
(i) Lydia (disambiguation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_(disambiguation)
(a feminine first name of Ancient Greek origin. It means "Beauty", "Beautiful", or "Noble One", it also means "Woman of Lydia/Persia")
(ii) Lydia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia
(1200-546 BC; the kingdom name came from king Lydus)
(b) The last sentence in the quotation will be easily understood with addition of a few words: "How strange [for them, the owners of the bodies] to be apparently proud of the condition, rather than mortified by it."
(c) The author translates Freikörperkultur as "Free Body Culture."
(i) frei (adj): "free" (naturaly "ei" in German is pronounced "ai" as in Calvin Klein)
(ii) körper (noun masculine); "body"

(2) This Summer, Fire Island Isn’t the Place To Bare All. New York Times, Feb 28, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/2 ... e-island-beach.html

Quote:

"While New York State enacted a law in 1984 prohibiting public nudity, many beaches are operated with the [US National] Park Service, which has no ban. So for years park rangers in some places where nudists gathered simply let them be. But this summer that will change, officials said, making a North Jersey beach the nearest public area to legally relax outdoors unclothed.

"On Feb 5, the Park Service issued a letter stating its plan to enforce the state ban. The letter specifically addresses the beaches on Fire Island, but park officials said the same guidelines applied to all New York beaches operated by the Park Service.

Note:
(a) Fire Island
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Island
(In September 1964, Lyndon Johnson signed a bill creating Fire Island National Seashore)
(b) Jacob Riis Park
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Riis_Park
(managed by the National Park Service (NPS).  managed by the National Park Service (NPS); named for Jacob Riis, a famous New York City muckraker journalist and photographer who documented the plight of the poor and working class)
(c)
(i) Gunnison Beach
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnison_Beach
(is part of the Sandy Hook unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and is managed by the National Park Service; named for Battery Gunnison, a fortification built by the U.S. Government in the 1800s to protect New York Harbor)

* I can not find it in the Web, but suspect the battery was baned after
John Williams Gunnison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Gunnison
(1812-1853; an American military officer and explorer)
(ii) Sandy Hook
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook
(The Dutch called the area "Sant Hoek", with the English "Hook" deriving from the Dutch "Hoek" (corner, angle), meaning "spit of land")

* The adjective "sant" (no longer in use in the Netherlands) is Middle Dutch for "saint" in English.
* spit (n):
"1: a slender pointed rod for holding meat over a fire
2: a small point of land especially of sand or gravel running into a body of water"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spit