"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." (As You Like It, William Shakespeare)
This is my absolute favorite line from any of Shakespeare's plays... because it exactly captures my view of life as an unashamed and addicted exhibitionist. Yes... I'm almost always looking around in whatever place I happen to be for the opportunity to turn it into a stage. And... subsequently, I've been able to identify and to exploit many "stages" over my 20 years as a practicing exhibitionist.
One of our favorite "stages" is a house in Santa Barbara. This is one of those friend-of-a-friend stories. I mentioned in passing one day that we love to visit Santa Barbara, and a friend remarked that she knew another friend who owns an amazing cliff-view house between the city and UC Santa Barbara. We made contact and were fortunate enough to be invited to stay in the house for a week... without any charge. Wow! Houses like this literally rent on VRBO for thousands of dollars per week.
Day One:
When we arrived in the middle of the afternoon, I was overwhelmed... and super-sensitive to the surrounds... and the "stage." The view of the ocean was spectacular! The house was at the end of a private road that led around a natural amphitheater... we were on the far left facing the ocean. And... looking back into the small valley, our large patio was visible from all of the 5 other houses that shared the lovely view.
A stage must be visible... and our patio was perfect! Ahhh... not only would I be visible on this amazing patio, but I could easily make it look like I didn't know I was being viewed. I could position myself as I looked out on the ocean... and fake a believable innocence. Hahahaha... as if! All of the other patios were above and behind me... who would possibly imagine a woman would be so engrossed with the view that she would naively walk out onto her patio totally nude? Well... that would be me!
I immediately loved the view... the patio was rimmed with plexiglass safety railing, so there were no obstructions for viewing out... or in. Sweet! The calming, beautiful ocean in front of the patio created a perfect setting for nude Pilates. And... the amphitheater behind the patio created a wonderful potential for my theater of exhibitionism. Mmmmm!
Anthony and I moved some of the patio furniture a bit... specifically making sure neither of the two umbrellas were going to obstruct anyone's view of the sites I felt would give the greatest exposure. We positioned the large sectional sunning sofas in a place where I could walk into the center of the space with the appearance that I was just paying attention to the beautiful ocean view. And then... in returning to the house through the large great room sliding glass doors, I could similarly act completely nonchalant.
With this preparation completed, Ant and I sat for a research session on the other houses in view. He sat with his back to the amphitheater, so I could chat with him while I scanned the patios and picture windows above us.
All five of the other houses appeared to have spacious outdoor entertaining areas. The owners of our house had prepared us with the news that this area of Santa Barbara is known for its lavish parties... so it was no surprise that their outdoor areas were large.
We'd already noticed that our house had a large telescope next to the full-length glass doors facing the ocean. So... I was interested to see if other houses may have telescopes also. As I scanned the houses... two of the houses had dedicated observation decks for unobstructed views of the ocean and coastline... and both had telescopes. One telescope was pointed toward the ocean while the other was pointed up for stargazing. But... from the looks of them, both could also be used for shorter range viewing... including our deck. Yes!!
As we chatted, Anthony asked, "Can you see any other telescopes through the windows? Our is. Some people like to watch the ocean without the wind in their faces."
Upon further observation... I was able to see that only one of these 5 other houses didn't have a visible telescope. The other two scopes were behind large picture windows. When I saw each of them, I was getting more and more enthused with my week-long opportunity to be on display... sometimes just topfree... at other times just bottom-free... and at specially chosen times completely naked. I told him about each discovery... describing the size of the telescope and its position.
We did an assessment of the cooking basics in the kitchen and made a list for provisions. As we were doing our shopping in a local Trader Joe's market... Ant and I planned our daily schedule. The success of several recent exhibitionist trips appeared to hinge on a predictable schedule of bare viewing opportunities. Potential watchers can't wait indefinitely for just the right moment. We still didn't know how many viewers we might have over the next week, but we certainly wanted to make the "stage" a place they needed to stay tuned!
Because our house was closer to the ocean and had early morning sun... it was a perfect place for morning Pilates. After our day's excursions... it would also be a natural time late in the afternoon to take a shower... and then walk out onto the deck with just a towel around my wet head. As Anthony grilled our dinner in the outdoor kitchen... I could be his assistant, wearing just an apron. (Yes... one of my favorite tease outfits!)
We planned also to take an evening walk past each of the other houses in the amphitheater. Ant is my best advocate... he suggested I wear less and less on our walks to encourage our temporary neighbors to notice... and to strike up a conversation. And... after our walk each evening, we planned to retire to our deck for some increasingly risqué viewing opportunities, overlooking the Channel Islands. The plan was wonderful!
We returned home... unpacked our food and opened the bar! I took a luxurious shower... dried my body slightly... wrapped my wet hair in my towel and walked out onto the deck with my gin & tonic. Ahhh... what a wonderful view... and a wonderful feeling!
Anthony came out to the deck... gave me a big hug and kiss... and prepped the grill for dinner. I took my drink to the sectional sofas and lounged out for maximum sun exposure. I spread my legs and propped them up, extending my arms over my head in an ecstatic pose of vulnerability and sensuality. I loved the pose... not knowing if anyone (except Anthony) was enjoying it.
Ant grilled chicken breasts and together we prepped our chicken Caesar salads. The temperature was perfect... perhaps on the warm side... and the view was outstanding. We both remarked over dinner... with or without a viewing public... that this house was one of the most elegant settings we've had for a short and relatively local vacation.
For our first neighborhood walk... I picked a flirty short skirt and a cropped top that just barely covered my boobs... focusing attention on my rock-hard abs and muscular legs... of course with no undies. The road took us up around the amphitheater behind each house... winding past 3 houses before the connecting road joined our area with the rest of the housing area. Then... we walked a little steeper road past the backs of the other two houses. It felt great to climb the back of the amphitheater to the vantage point behind the last house with a spectacular view of the ocean... and our house below.
As we looked out over the last house and down the coastline, amazed by the sunlight on the contours of the hills and valleys... we were startled out of our solitude by a woman's voice below us. "Hi, are you Annie and Anthony?"
Knock me over with a feather! Fortunately, Anthony had the ability to answer in the affirmative. She approached us as if the hill she was climbing was nothing... immediately I liked this woman!
"Hi, I'm Rachel... your hosts called us so we could extend a welcome. I'm so glad you came by!"
We chatted briefly, and she invited us down to meet her husband. They were Rachel and Brad... probably 10 or so years older than Ant and me, but both very buff in t-shirts, short shorts and bare feet. Man... I always love it when we meet people who obviously work to stay muscular and toned. They invited us down for a drink... so we found our way onto their spacious deck at the opposite side of the amphitheater from our house.
After we were settled with our drinks and had chatted a brief time... Brad asked, "Hey... Shelley and Matt said you were going to use their house... and they asked us to extend a warm welcome. They're great friends... so we're happy to meet you both."
