On Saturday evening after the events of my previous post I went to a mate's fortieth in a well appointed social club in a small Yorkshire town. Decent band, good beer, a load of me mates from way back, a cracking good bloke's night out, you'd think.
Well, yes, but also no.
I ended up sitting with my mate's wife, her sister, her mother and their friends. About six lovely ladies, stereotypical West Yorkshire, if you've ever spent any time in that part of the world you'll identify them immediately. The great thing is, as I spent a while chatting with them I slipped straight into girl mode. Sitting there as full-on bloke, in a Yorkshire social club that's as male-oriented as only Yorkshire social clubs can be, holding a pint of a very masculine Yorkshire real ale - and having a girly chat with a bunch of lovely girl friends for about half an hour. Affirmation it wasn't as though three of them have known me for a decade they have no idea I'm in any way transgendered, but by 'eck it were good! [note to self: that's enough fake dialect!] Gender fog and girl envy banished for the evening, replaced by girl glow! I was tempted by coming out to my mate and his wife afterwards, but held back because it would have been without my wife's knowledge. Better not ruin such a good feeling.
Overnight it snowed. Our transatlantic cousins will smile indulgently at our little one inch of snow, but it was enough to make me set off a bit early. Our cars don't have winter tyres and Yorkshire's full of steep hills so care was required. I had to cross to another part of the motorway network to meet up with a friend who shares my passion for tinkering with old cars.
Some of you may have encountered Cathy through her blog. Since I was going to be at her end of the country I dropped her a line a few weeks ago asking if we could meet up, it's not often I go north these days. So after a long and slow snowy drive I found myself installed in her very cozy front room making a fuss of her cat and having another good long chat about transgender as you might imagine, but also the the other important things in life. Including things with engines, and surprisingly, obscure television systems. Sometimes it's unnerving how much I find in common with some of the transgendered people I've met.
As the afternoon drew to a close I pointed the car south against the backdrop of a spectacular motorway sunset, the Be Good Tanyas easing my way through the roadworks with a sublime Prince cover. The perfect end to a weekend as far more girl than I ever expected, considering I was never once outwardly anything but bloke.
Nice! I shared a dinner with my wife and two of her girlfriends a few months ago, and I have to say that I felt every inch the girl as we all chatted. An honorary woman for the evening. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure to meet you. Who knows - if you can tear yourself away from dressmaking, you might even build a steam-powered televisor. I wonder if it could be fuelled with cider?
ReplyDeleteHugs, Cat XX
@Leslie: I was wondering how far one could go down that particular road without them noticing something. Maybe that's the best way to do it, then if or when they do find out I'm transgendered, it's not much of a shock.
ReplyDelete@Cat: Likewise. Tempting, but too many projects already!