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| JJ Hart, Hot Summer Day. |
This morning was a day to catch up and run errands.
Because of the continuing heatwave we are under here in Southwestern
Ohio, I needed to get an early start. For example, it is nearly ninety degrees
(F) before eleven AM with heavy humidity. So, by early I meant the pharmacy I
was going to did not open till nine o clock. Plenty of time for me to have a
leisurely morning as I got ready. By getting ready, I did not mean I had to go
to any elaborate means to do it. Basically, all I needed to do was shave
closely, apply moisturizer, makeup and brush my hair. I figured the least which
would happen to me was I would see two different people in drive thru’s.
Of course, I was wrong because my second stop involved an up
close and personal interaction with a coffee shop employee who was taking
orders outside the window since the equipment had broken down in the heat. It
turned out all my built-in paranoia of meeting strangers was unfounded for at
least today.
First, the guy at the pharmacy had the personality of a
cardboard box and could have cared less about me. And, as far as the girl I
interacted with personally with the second drive thru went, she was very nice
to me, and I felt as if I was welcome. Especially
since she knew I (assumed) I was transgender. Whatever the case, I felt good as
I headed home before the traffic became worse again.
Speaking of going out, my wife Liz and I’s trip up to
Dayton, Ohio during the upcoming Fourth of July weekend is rapidly approaching.
My daughter is having a graduation celebration for her family. My oldest
grandchild graduated from Ohio State last winter and is coming home from hiking
the Appalachian trail before she takes a job in Maine this fall. In addition, my
youngest grandchild is graduating from high school, and her husband is receiving
his MBA. The event is being held outside, so I need to plan accordingly. I have
picked a very feminine top to go with leggings and flats so I can be appropriately
feminine without going overboard.
It does not seem possible, but the next big event is Liz and
I’s big trip to New England in the fall. Just like that, another summer will
have gone by. At my age, there is no way I should be wishing time away. As my
mom was fond of saying, age is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer to the
end you come, the faster it goes. As with most things mom told me, she was
right.
It seems, no matter how small the public interactions are,
when I am positively impacted, the better my life is. It is like charging up my
gender battery. I constantly need it. Such as the positive interaction I had
today.
