On Saturday I spent over half the day as myself, from early afternoon till three in the morning I was April.
We had a lovely week in Southern Ontario but Saturday it rained and rained. I had agreed to attend a forum on transgendered parenting in Toronto, where we would also meet a film maker working on a documentary on the same topic.
Not wanting to waste the opportunity I asked my friend Natasha to come along so we could hit the town that evening. I was in a terrible hurry as usual to get ready as I had to take two of my daughters to dance class that morning, leaving me with just over and hour to get ready. Running late and with only one coat of polish on my nails I left the house in jeans and boots, guy jacket hiding my top and no wig. Balancing a bag with a choice of heels and a skirt for the evening and an umbrella I managed to get in the Electra without looking like a drowned rat.
I was a little apprehensive about driving the 76 Buick in the rain and on the highway as the tires are of indeterminate age but no side wall cracks. Thirty five year old cars have a nasty habit of breaking down at the most inopportune times. Dressed en femme and in the pouring rain would surely tempt fate. On the plus side she had just taken me safely and at high speed to a meeting in Hamilton the day before. I had also replaced a leaking valve cover, changed the oil, greased the chassis, adjusted the timing and carb to factory specs, replaced cracked or dried out vacuum lines.
I made it to Natasha's place and we quickly got on the QEW heading to the big city. The weather made driving a white knuckle experience, I am sure we hydroplaned more than once, but we actually made good time to the heart of down town. Driving in Toronto can be a bit hairy and the congestion mirrors New York or London.
The forum was at the Sherbourne Centre, which has very limited parking, I had checked on line so I knew there was public parking a block north but it meant a walk in the driving rain and wind. Of course by the time we had parked the Electra, a space had opened up.
The forum was very diverse, M2F, F2M and lots of gender variants. Afterwards the rain had slackened but the temperature had dropped, braving the chill we walked over to a favourite Thai restaurant for either an early dinner or late lunch. Refreshed we retrieved the Buick before the meter ran out and drove over to the Gay Village, Natasha spotted some great on street parking but there was no way I was going to try an parallel park 19 plus feet of Flint, Michigan's finest.
We ended up parking her (the Buick not Natasha) at a nearby and heated underground lot that proved most useful for changing into evening wear, in my case exchanging the jeans and boots for a black skirt and low heels.
Not much night clubbing we ended having a much more enjoyable time at a local pub and later the coffee shop. Met some very interesting people, from an Algerian belly dancer top a Laotian oil man and his Filipino girlfriend.
Natasha lost her coat at a club but amazingly against the odds found it again at the last possible minute before we left far too late in the evening to head back to our respective suburbias.
Impromptu photo shoot with the Buick at 2:00 AM. I love this shot, I think it reflects how I felt that evening, confident and feminine. I want to be her all the time.
PS. The Electra ran great, (thanks to my recent tune up) consumed vast quantities of fossil fuels and garnered us many thumbs up on the way home from guys in their BMWs.
Hugs,
April
