When I saw the ad I hesitated.  But then I realized it was an evangelical Christian College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. I'd figure I would be safe.  Also since the students are young, I most likely would not run into them in town.  If it would have been an adult education class; I would have passed it up.  That's all I need is a neighbor or an old boss seeing me in the buff.

Since I do attend nude beaches and resorts plus I have posed for artistic black and white nude photography, I shouldn't be too embarrassed.  When I arrived at the newly rebuilt college, I was quite impressed by the architecture and the 'green' materials that were used.  They had reconstructed their buildings out of the ruins of a terrible fire

There were about five students huddled around a small receptacle sharpening their charcoal pencils.  All were females except one and the professor.  Professor of Art, Scott Anderson is young and handsome.  I was expecting a much older man with shabby hair who smelled of cigarettes.

Professor Anderson introduced himself and then began to tell me of the 2, 4 and 5 minutes poses that he was looking for.  He was looking for athletic poses of which I told him I did not have an athletic body to match.

The type of drawing the students were going to sketch was of blocks and circles.  I guess I would call it a preliminary drawing to line up certain parts of the body.  I had the vision of a watercolor or charcoal drawing of me laying on a cloth with flowers in my hair.  Instead I was standing on a platform with harsh lighting.

While I was in the dressing room taking off my clothes, I looked into the mirror and was reminded how fluorescent lighting is not a woman’s best friend.  Plus I was having a hard time sucking it in.  I feel skinnier in the morning then the late afternoon.  For the past few months I had lost some inches and was looking a lot better.  The past week, I was under a lot of stress, had out of town visitors which meant eating and drinking a little more than usual.

When I walked out of the dressing room, I volunteered to use my cell phone as a timer.  So standing naked in front of everyone, I fumbled with my cell phone to set the timer.  It reminded me of Marilyn Monroe saying, "The only thing I have on is the radio".

With the bright spot lights shining on my swollen salon I went into my first pose.  I faced the students with my hands up and one leg out. I daydreamed as I waited for the timer to go off at the same occasion trying to figure out my next pose.

After several poses, I was getting tired and it was becoming more challenging to create new poses.  At the end of the sessions it was time to get dressed.

I wanted to make conversation with a couple of the students but felt their unease.  I felt awkward but relieved that it was over.  Was it worth three hours of standing there in front of strangers?  Yes.  In a sense it was liberating.  It was like conquering a phobia.  It reminded me of dreams I have had of when I am standing naked in a crowd.  Now that I have done that, will that nightmare go away?  Perhaps I should do it again for good measure.