I walk naked throughout the year and whilst it is reasonable to suppose that a wander in the woods on a day like that depicted in this photo is perfect, there is another perspective. It was a truely lovely afternoon when I left my house to enjoy some time alone in the woodland that surrounds my house and the wander up the track with sunlit areas alternating with shade were delightful, feeling the coolness and the warmth as a passed along, through my feet I experienced the same, not only the usual variation of grit, stones, mud, twigs and grass but also that variation in temperature. My movement caused the air to flow across my body. Being naked out in nature is a completely immersive experience for me.

But there is another perspective, meeting nature in this way at this time of year you also have to interact with midges and ticks. The midges emerge towards the end of May and persist until the end of August and at times there can be clouds of them. When I first came to live in Ardnamurchan midge bites would cause swelling and subsequent itching but within two years my body had adapted and now when I get bitten I have a red spot come and overnight its gone, no itching at all. so my natural immunity has provided the solution. However it’s a different situation with the ticks. Except when there is snow on the ground they are potentially a problem. Some of them also carry Lymes disease. So how do I deal with them? Being naked its easy to spot the nymph and adult ticks, its more difficult with the larve, so I normally just brush the larger ones off, when I finish my walk I’m quite particular about bathing and I pay close attention to my lower legs where I often find many of tiny tick larve, these are about size of a full stop so difficult to see. At this stage in their life cycle they are not infected with Lymes but can still imbed and cause an itchy lump.

The next two stages in a ticks life consist of Nymph and Adult both these are more easily visible so are simple to remove. I like to sit out in the woods and contemplate life so what I do is carry a sitting cloth, pale coloured and about 120cm square which I spread on the earth before sitting. This allows me to keep clear of getting ticks where I really do not want them.

For me the problems caused but ticks or any other creature are the same as when I have to break the ice on the pond for my morning bathe, its about dealing with the situation that nature presents. In our modern life we can choose to step away and avoid but the tendency then is to allow that veil of separation to develop.

So what creatures do you potentially come into contact with and how do you deal with them?