…to see the grandkids (750+ miles and 2 days, each way) finally got the best of us. So, recently we packed up our things and moved south. It was a good decision…especially to be closer to the grands…they’re so cute!! (And something we’ve contemplated for a long time…)

The difficult part, as anyone who has relocated previously will be aware, is trying to get established. You know the drill: change of addresses, drivers licenses, car registrations, insurance, etc. It will take forever to get straightened out! But a fun part (well, sort of) was visiting the ER for a what-fortunately-turned-out-to-be-minor visit, since I was not going to be able to visit my own doctor back home.

That ER visit required my son to accompany me – I wasn’t yet familiar with where it was located, and didn’t know if any meds might be prescribed which would prevent me from driving back to the house. (They weren’t.)

I was wearing snug gray leggings, one of my “above-the-knee-dress-length” brown turtleneck tunic under a shorter cardigan, with bare ankles and ballet flats. Upon entering the waiting room, I shed the cardigan – just before I was triaged. Likely because of my attire and my now-female given name, I “became” a female on the record. (Son was not present for that revelation, but he was circumstantially involved later.) It was wonderful, being addressed as female…and even being asked about mammograms, pregnancy and other female issues.

Finally, in the treatment room (with son able to accompany me, which was a surprise) an aide (20something female) came in to review some check-in facts, apparently to confirm my birth gender because I’d been identified as female. She inquired about that little detail, and since it turned out to be an “M”, she asked how I prefer to be addressed, whether I had transitioned, and other similar questions.

I answered all of them appropriately, assured her that I will respond to either male or female forms of address, adding (in response to her quizzical expression) that my given name is actually my birth name and has not been changed. Her conclusion was that the combination of my feminine name, long nails and hair, and “that cute dress over your leggings” caused the mistake at triage. My response: “No worries…it’s happened before and will undoubtedly happen again!”

Through this, son didn’t even raise an eyebrow…he knows I’ve dressed this way for years.

When the attending physician came in, he used the dreaded “S – word” a number of times, but not around any other staff members. Around others, he left off any gender-specific forms of address. And fortunately, with no major issues to resolve, the visit concluded with me being given the names of some local primary care physicians to contact.

Then came the fun part: as we headed back through the office and lobby to exit and go back home, staffers who had previously interpreted me as female actually continued to do so! Nice!!!

And there have been no issues about it from our son or D-I-L!

Later,

Mandy

These pictures were taken a while back, after a suggestion by my nail tech that the tunic I was wearing would serve as a cute mini-dress, when worn with some opaque black tights to cover my panties and protect my modesty. (“In addition, it’d take more than a few years off your age…particularly after I give you a full set of 1″ long red fingernail extensions!”)

As you can see, I didn’t end up wearing the nails….but after trying on the outfit at home, I have several thoughts:

First, it’s SHORT! Wow, what a feeling!

Second, it’s superb freedom, but would not be comfortable in cold weather without leggings. And in summer, with leggings or tights, likely not comfy either. It probably would be a spring/fall outfit…unless, of course, wearing tunics as dresses turns out to be so much fun that I wear them with pantyhose (maybe fishnets?) Or perhaps even bare-legged (yes, of course with panties) in warm weather…OMG!

Third, such short dresses put my legs on full-time display, with no possible way to hide them. That’s not a problem; simply a fact of life that mini-dresses impose on every girl who wears them. And it would be quite the adventure!

Fourth, movements requiring sitting or bending would require pre-planning and keeping knees/legs together, to avoid showing my bottom for more than a glimpse. Simply using an escalator would likely give anyone behind me an upskirt view. Thus, cute panties would be mandatory when not wearing leggings or opaque tights! (Heck, back in college in the 70’s, I was that typical guy enjoying following mini-skirted girls. It’s “payback time” – I’ll now be that girl in short dresses, showing off my legs and pretty panties!) I’d also have to be careful that my dress doesn’t ride up under my purse – it’s happened. Maybe that’s why girls check their hems so often?

Fifth, my nail tech’s right – it really does take a few years off my apparent age. From what I see on the internet, some older women wear short dresses simply to look younger. And I admit that someday I’d love to try those luscious long red talons…even if it means I can’t type!

Sixth, a pair of 5″ heels would look fabulous with this outfit, but I haven’t had much luck with heels of any height. Sad but true… Thus, at least initially, I’d have to wear flats or less than 1-1/2″ heels. In the proper weather conditions, my nail tech even thinks these mini-dresses would be the perfect travel outfit, worn with freshly-shaved-and-tanned bare legs, cute panties, and twenty long and beautiful red nails (making wearing sandals all the time a requirement) .

Seventh, I’ve worn these tunics with leggings more than a few times already, with no issues at all, even from Wifey. She already has given me her unfavorable opinion of short dresses without them. So, what do you think, ladies? Would tights or pantyhose make this tunic a viable mini-dress outfit? My biggest concern is that I don’t want to appear slutty. Advice will be sincerely appreciated. (And for the gentlemen who read this blog – you know who you are – your opinion is very valuable too.)

After giving it some thought, a fabulous side benefit to dressing like this for entire solo excursions: it would save tons of room in my suitcase! Leave pants and shirts at home – girls don’t need ’em. Just take two pretty knee-length dresses for dinners out, and seven tunic dresses, a pair of sandals to wear (also take a spare pair), opaque tights/sheer pantyhose, and cute panties. Wear each outfit for two days, and that’s enough for 14 days on the road. They won’t take much room in my suitcase. Perhaps I could even handle my own luggage, and not need men to help me! (Though there probably would be no lack of candidates to do so!)

Should I try to work up the courage to actually wear this outfit in public? If so, would a different color combination work better? (Royal blue tunic/black tights and black flats, purple or red tunic/tan tights and tan flats, tan tunic with black tights and tan flats? What about pantyhose?) Your comments will help me with that decision!

Thanks,

Mandy

My best wishes for great weekend, including a very Happy Easter!!! Don’t eat too much – food OR candy! And for those of you who do not celebrate this holiday, please have yourself a wonderful weekend – with that same caveat!

Remember, too much candy will keep those pretty dresses from fitting so nicely!

Hugs,

Mandy

…some sort of excursion this summer, wearing this exact outfit, or better yet, with my white slide sandals and 20 long white nails. Very summery…very comfortable, and very girly.

Hugs,

Mandy

After the first surreal moment (mentioned previously), I figured the excitement for this trip was over. How wrong I was…

Wifey and I were in the home appliance section of a major home supply store in TN, looking for an appliance to put in our son’s home. Before you ask, I was wearing dark gray stirrup leggings with bare ankles, a black turtleneck tunic, dressy feminine flats, and my other typical accoutrements. Both of us were wearing masks.

We had an appliance discussion with the 30-something female clerk who, upon hearing my now-female given name, carefully avoided any gender-specific references (simply referring to “you folks”) as the discussion provided no opportunity for Wifey or I to refer to our marital status. It would be necessary to measure the opening for the appliance to be sure our selection would fit, thus we obtained her card and said I’d give her a call to order one… And when we got home, we found that it was a good fit.

The next day about 11 AM, I called and spoke to her briefly. She was on the other line with a customer and said she’d call right back in a few minutes. Well, 5 minutes became 10, then an hour, so I waited till after lunch and tried again, leaving a message this time. She soon returned the call, apologizing profusely, and admitting that she had been in the “little girls room” for an extended time – “Don’t you just hate it when your period starts?” “No worries, hon, I completely understand.” Her response: “I had to spend soooo much time in there. It would have been too embarrassing out here in the showroom.” My response: “At least old age brings some distinct benefits for us women!” “Thanks so much for understanding, Ma’am.”

The rest of the call, in which we ordered the appliance, she used only female forms of address for me, and closed with “Thanks to both of you ladies for shopping with me.”

I guess I “passed.” Despite my voice… And Wifey didn’t even need to be involved!

Hugs,

Mandy

This harkens back to the early 1990’s, when we lived in upstate New York.

The Knox and Kane Railroad (K&K) was a short-line Pennsylvania railroad, which operated between Knox (Clarion County) and Mount Jewett in McKean County.

During the 1940s, ’50s and early ’60s, this railroad, then under B&O ownership, existed to service coal companies shipping from this area. A conductor’s report from one northbound freight train (Foxburg to Kane) in the early 1960s reportedly showed in excess of fifty loads of coal shipped north out of Lucinda, most of it bound for ports on the Great Lakes.

When Sloan Cornell purchased a portion the K&K line, it began operating a tourist railroad over the segment of the line from Kane to Marienville (originally the site of the Knox Glass Bottle Company’s plant), and back to Kane. A portion of the former Erie Railroad was also purchased so that the tourist trains could cross the Erie’s historic Kinzua Bridge.

Initially, the K&K derived some revenue from shipping out car loadings of coal from what had once been an extensive coal mining complex in and around Lucinda, a few miles north of North Clarion Junction. The last coal shipper on the line, Zacheryl Coal, went bankrupt not too many years after the K&K acquired the line, which materially reduced loads carried, and thus reduced income.

The K&K rostered two steam locomotives, and their first one was No. 38, a 2-8-0 which was transferred from the Gettysburg Railroad (another Cornell operation) in 1986.  It was built by Baldwin in 1927 for the Huntington & Broad Top Mountain Railroad.  No. 38 had not run since 1988 but was under restoration to be returned to steam. A new tender tank had been constructed. Their second steam locomotive was brand-new Tangshan Locomotive & Rolling Stock Works-built 2-8-2 No. 58, which was built as SY1658 in 1989. It was imported new to the Knox and Kane, (one of only six steam engines imported from China after the end of steam in the States) and it was the K&K’s main steam locomotive for several years.

As the B&O never saw a need to turn locomotives at Marienville, there was no wye or turntable located in that community.  Thus, the K&K built a turn table, specifically to turn its steam locomotive. There was also a four-bay roundhouse built in Marienville. Today, the roundhouse is in a considerable amount of disrepair, with three of the four tracks having been removed. 

Coaches used on the Knox & Kane were predominently old Long Island RR commuter cars. They were called Ping-Pong cars as they had round windows on the ends and being commuter cars going back and forth, they resembled a ping pong ball going back and forth across the ping pong table, and also because of their tendency to rock and bounce all over, even when new on well-maintained track. (We can confirm that – it seemed we were being jostled around a lot.) They were also notorious for rusting, making maintenance one these cars a constant chore. This collection of old and new equipment made for one of the more distinctive tourist train operations in the country, although it was often overlooked because of its remote location.

It was a dreary and cool day in July of 1991 that we decided to venture to the K&K, and ride their excursion over the bridge that had reportedly at one time been described as “the eighth wonder of the world.”  The trip was spectacular, despite the weather, as you can see from the picture.  But neither of us could foresee the tragedy which would befall this structure about 12 years hence.  (And had we known, we might have reconsidered whether we even wanted to ride that day – lol!)

In the spring of 2006, the K&K ceased both freight and tourist service. One reason was that freight shipments over the line had severely declined over the years. However, the main reason for its abandonment was that its main tourist draw (a trip over the 300’ high and nearly ½ mile long steel trestle – at one time the world’s highest) was indeed the Kinzua Bridge. And unfortunately, eleven towers of this viaduct had collapsed into the valley during a tornado in the spring of 2003, severing it. (Fortunately, there were no human casualties as the trestle was vacant when it collapsed.)  The State of Pennsylvania, which owned the viaduct, could not afford to repair it, thus ticket sales confirmed that the railroad had lost its major tourist draw.

Then, in another devastating blow, early on Sunday March 16, 2008 the locomotives used to carry sightseers across the Kinzua Bridge were severely damaged by a fire set by arsonists. The fire, which burned the Biddle Street building used to house trains in Kane, caused $1 million in damage. This further extinguished all dreams of reopening the railroad.

End of the line

On October 10 and 11, 2008, the K&K’s rolling stock was auctioned off as part of a liquidation sale. The Kovalchick Corporation (which also owned the East Broad Top Railroad) bought the property. According to an article published in the Bradford Era newspaper immediately following the auction, the Kovalchicks reportedly had “little interest in resuming tourist rides along the rails.”

In the spring of 2010, Kovalchick removed the rail crossings between Clarion and McKean counties. The section between the Bridge State Park and Center St. and Peterson St. (Mount Jewett) has now become the Knox Kane Rail Trail.

We haven’t been back since our ride in 1991….

Mandy

This is the color my nail tech chose a while back for covering the two “badly cracked and repaired with acrylic” big toe nails, and several bruised smaller toes.

I liked it a lot (still do), and so did my tech. But Wifey took exception to it, and she finally decided that I should wear black from about mid-November through March, but switch to white during the summer sandal season. “Since you have to wear polish now, it might as well be a color lots of girls are wearing. It’ll look so pretty with your sandals and summer outfits.”

I’m still trying to convince her that I’ll look more color-coordinated if my fingernails are painted to match my toes, instead of the light pink I wear. She hasn’t bought into this yet, but hope springs eternal!

That all was much more than a year ago. My big toe nails still crack easily, so I continue to keep them repaired, and well-pedicured. Which is good! But I still have high hopes for eventually taking one of my excursions wearing this turquoise color on all 20 nails!

Hugs,

Mandy

and pregnant!

I’d have to find a way to lose more than a few years, add extra padding in the right places and judiciously gain back about 20 of the pounds I’ve lost (yes, part of that baby bump was really me), as well as have appropriate facial/bodily plastic surgery (including silicone implants.) Perhaps topped off by a permanent makeup application? Together, those just might have a chance of helping me look this good again!

One thing’s for sure – sporting a beautiful baby bump like this would demand wearing cute, form-fitting maternity dresses to highlight my pregnancy – instead of the sweater and leggings I wore one afternoon (above), which certainly didn’t work as intended. Ideally, outfits would include showing lots of bare, smooth legs and arms, with inch-long, fire engine red finger and toe nail extensions (the latter requiring sexy sandals – since closed shoes wouldn’t fit any more).

My intention that afternoon was to try to downplay my “pregnancy” a bit with my choice of outfits, so I could appear more masculine for a stop at the garage without shedding the removable parts of my belly. But as you can see, that plan didn’t work out very well – or maybe it actually turned out “very well.” From then on, at the garage, I was I was addressed as “Miss Mandy” regardless of my outfit.

Not many boys are pregnant, so pregnancy insures recognition as female in almost any attire…from dresses to maternity pants with blouses, or shorts and a tank top. Long red claws would simply be the icing on the cake. And together, they’d likely encourage those fun “spontaneous girl talks” with other women!

Unfortunately, I’m too old to present as pregnant now. Thus, probably “nevermore…”

Hugs,

Mandy

It was a sunny, warm day in Maryland. Wifey and I were attending a meeting on the “other side of the bay”. I was wearing black non-stirrup leggings, a royal blue turtleneck without jewelry, bare ankles, black ballet flats, and my usual other accoutrements (long hair & nails, purse, etc.). There was no intention of “passing.” At least that was what I’d expected.

We had just entered the office and been escorted to the proper room by the receptionist, to wait for the meeting to commence. She didn’t use gender-specific greetings or pronouns for either of us…which sometimes happens. As she left the room, I inquired about the location of the restroom. “It’s out in the hallway, hon.” (There’s that typical Baltimorese term for folks of either gender!)

So I left my purse with Wifey and headed out into the hall. Should I turn left or right? Don’t know…but a 50-something woman was coming toward me from the right, and nobody else was in the hall, so instinctively I softened my voice and asked “Excuse me, Ma’am, where are the restrooms?” Go 2 doors down this hall, Ma’am, and it’s on the left.” “Thanks so much, Ma’am.”

So I followed her directions, and hesitated just a bit before reaching for the door handle – of the women’s room! She had kindly stayed in the hall to make sure I didn’t get lost, and when I hesitated, said “You found it, sweetheart, just don’t go in the door on the right – the one with no sign. That’s the men’s room!”

I replied “OK – thanks so much, Ma’am!” And I grabbed the handle & walked in, out of her sight – fortunately no women were there, either at the mirror or in the stalls. Decision time: about 30 seconds later, after she had gone on her way, I came back out into the hall and ducked into the men’s room, which coincidentally had nobody in it.

Yes, it was my golden opportunity, and I didn’t take it. But I was concerned about ill effects had someone contacted security and our meeting then been interrupted. That would have been a disaster. Yes, someone could have called security for a woman being in the men’s room. But the proper ID was available to dispatch that issue quickly.

The good news is: I “passed” (there’s that awful term again…) well enough in day-to-day life for a woman to casually direct me into the womens’ room “without effort on my part!”

I hope the next time works out better!

Hugs,

Mandy

While spending some time in TN visiting our son recently, there was an interesting occurrence while at one of the major home supply stores in a nearby town.

Wifey and I were shopping for some things for our new digs in their remodeled house.  That day I was wearing dark gray stretch leggings with bare ankles, black ballet flats, and men’s light gray car club polo “tunic” – with long hair and nails of course, and my ever-present purse as we entered the store.  Of course, they had a greeter, an elderly man who was very friendly and addressed us properly as two ladies.  And he offered to escort us ladies to the item for which we were hunting.

He asked me to follow him (using feminine forms of address) and took me to the aisle.  (Wifey had drifted off to look for something else on our shopping list.) Then he left, and I didn’t see him again for a while. Feminine forms of address were still used for me when we met again.  Wifey eventually caught up to me, and we went on with our (successful) shopping event, ending with a full shopping cart, and the checkout clerk saying, “Have a great day, ladies.”  No comments at all from Wifey.

I didn’t think much about the pleasant incident until later that day, when I overheard a slightly modified version of our store visit.  When the greeter ran into Wifey, I presume he used a feminine form of address to describe me.  She may have corrected that by saying “my husband” in her reply to him, but I’ll never know for sure.   In relaying the story later to D-I-L (within earshot of me) I noticed that the “she” forms of address were modified to “he.” 

Hmmm – did he address me directly as a woman, but refer to me as a guy to her? Or was the story slightly modified by Wifey to avoid embarrassment?   Though I suspect I know the answer, I’ll never be sure…

Mandy