Fall Harvest Fun

I had a grand time at Fall Harvest. I drove up and back "en femme" and that added to the fun. Again, not a lick of trouble. I really feel that most folks out there don't care about "us" and if they do care, they aren't saying anything. At least to my face anyway. Well, yesterday at Sam's Club in Sioux City (Iowa) I did overhear an elderly couple talking and I heard the man say, "Isn't that just disgusting?" I simply looked him in the eye to let him know that I had heard him and then walked past without saying anything. Confronting people like that probably wouldn't change their minds in any event.

Last Wednesday I stopped in SC on the way north to get my nails done. I got silk wraps. They were about 3/8ths of inch long! It took awhile to get used to those let me tell you! :) They were just gorgeous though. The gal that did my nails looked vaguely familiar to me and she kept talking about the area where I grew up. Turns out that she graduated a year ahead of me from the same school! She didn't recognize me at all. I ended up telling her who I was and we had a good laugh. She assured me that she wouldn't tell anyone, even her hubby who also is from the same town and school. So what if she does, I'm bigger than him! :)

As I got in the car to leave even though I was trying to be very careful I managed to break off the nail on my left index finger. For those of you who have done this you know how much it hurts! I picked up what was left of my nail and went back inside. She glued it back together but it looked bad! It was already 5 PM and I wanted to get on the road so I figured that was good enough.

I then headed over to my seamstress friend's place to pick up a dress. Her 14 year old son was there. He ran to the back of the shop and said, "MOM! Your crossdresser is here!" The poor kid was nervous around me but he wanted to be there while she talked with me. First time for him. I was wearing my purple sweater dress that clings to me so nicely. (Yesterday my seamstress friend said that I received several complimentary comments from her employees after I had gone Wednesday. Not exactly an outfit one is told to wear to "pass" but I've found that I AM going to get noticed regardless so I might as well wear something that I like and let the chips fall where they may. The question should not be, "Do I pass?" Rather it should be, "SO WHAT?"

No Fear of PopTarts

I stopped in Mankato, MN for the night. The young girl (early 20's) at the front desk of the Day's Inn sprang to her feet in surprise when I came through the front door. She handled me like any other customer though.

The next morning I fueled up the mighty SHO down the street. I found out that my darling finger nails precluded using the credit card reader on the pump. (I couldn't pull the card back out!) So I had to pay inside. I don't know what I was worried about though. No big deal at the cash register. Business as usual. (Does anyone see a pattern developing here?)

Went to a Country Kitchen kind of place after that for breakfast. Same-o same-o. Breakfast as usual.

I hit Minneapolis about 1 that afternoon. I got checked in and then headed to the Rosedale Mall up the road to get my broken nail rebuilt. Had fun sitting in the salon with the other "girls" there. (Real ones!) Lots of mirrors in there and it seemed that whenever I let my eyes wander I caught someone looking at me in them. No unfriendly looks though, just mild curiosity. Went to a Dayton's dept store after that to buy some "Liz Sport" perfume. I like that stuff. I warned them there that there was a convention of "us"down the road that weekend and to be on the lookout for more of "us" that weekend.

I was hungry so I went to a "Don Pablo's" restaurant across the street and had a nice meal. My waitress was a very nice young lady who seemed to enjoy talking with me. She exhibited no outward signs of anxiety or stress. Just a nice smile whenever she came to my table. Again I warned her of "our" presence in the area and to on the lookout.

The convention itself was pretty much standard fare. About 100 registered attendants. And yes, it was mentioned to me that they were disappointed in the low numbers of RCGA members there at FH. I think there were only 4 of us there.

We had a dance on both Friday and Saturday nights after the evening meal. Friday night we had a live transgendered band. Well, the drummer and lead guitarist were transgendered anyway. I was still tired from the night before so I crashed at midnight. Saturday night we had a duet made up of a gg and a drag queen as hostesses for the Miss FH contest. Debbie from KC won btw. She has an incredible femme voice! Good looker too! The gg part of the hostess duo sounded just like Barbara Streisand when she sang.

What a set of pipes she had! I told her afterwards too! She offered her hand and I shook it. I hugged the DQ and she wanted a kiss. So I did... on the lips. I admit that I would've rather kissed the gg, but ya gotta take what you can get. Anyway boys and girls, if a white conservative gun toting NRA member registered Republican CD'er can kiss a black DQ then maybe there's hope for us all, eh? I danced almost continually in heels until closing, 12:30 AM and I wasn't sore the next morning. Mrs. Mendelsohn, Susan, wife of Dr. Bob, danced with us gals too. Bob and Susan have to be some of nicest people in existence and are true friends to our community!

Friday Steph and I hit the Mall of America. We weren't really noticed. Well not until we got out of the van anyway. Got lots of stares, didn't we Steph? It was fun! Saturday, Steph took me and another girl from Texas (I don't remember her name) to a tall girl's shop nearby. I FOUND A JACKET THAT ACTUALLY HAS LONG ENOUGH SLEEVES FOR ME!!!!! It is a reversable lavendar/purple thing that I just love! Very pretty colors.

Sunday morning found us in the brunch line at the hotel with bunches of Vikings fans. I fit right in with my purple jacket. I bet that they thought that I was just another fan and not one "of those people." I thought that jacket and my black sleeveless unitard made a killer outfit. It's what I drove home in. It was a good breakfast if you like shrimp and omelets and that sort of thing but there were no PopTarts to be found anywhere! I made do somehow.

I left for home around noon after telling my dear friend and "roomie" Steph goodbye. Her wonderful company added greatly to the experience. Thank goodness she knows her way around the Mall of America otherwise I'd still be lost in there! I was bummed as usual about leaving but it can't go on forever can it? I drove home on that gray fall day in intermittent snow showers happily drumming my nails on the dashboard and smiling a lot. I did have an interesting and "cool" thing happen on the way home though. I'll write it up and hopefully the Forum will accept it!

I made several new friends at FH and left feeling pretty good about myself and life in general. I finally got to meet another VC girl, Catherine Parker, in person and she was as cute in person as she is in her pics! She can really sing too! It was nice to finally meet you Cat! Always a pleasure to meet an intelligent and articulate person such as yourself! I also talked at length with Dr. Bob Mendelsohn from South Dakota State U. on two occasions. Bob is a sociologist studying "us" and is in the process of generating a book about his findings. I am looking forward to it. I just cannot say enough good things about this man and what he is doing for "us." A true friend and ardent supporter of the community. I have a standing invitation to come visit them at their home in whatever form I choose as long as I call ahead!

Please accept this "form" letter as a response to all of your emails that I had waiting for me when I got back Sunday night. If you have any questions about my experience at FH feel free to write! I hope that this finds you all in good spirits and in good health!

Thank you for your support! Love, Leah

Visit Leah's Landing at: http://members.tgforum.com/leahmaclean/