Saturday night a wonderful friend of mine and I had a night out in the "Nati". The "Nati" is a slang term for Cincinnati.
Like so many evenings, this one started out innocently enough, we were simply going to downtown Cinci to enjoy the Christmas lights and sounds. Oh, by the way my friend is a "GG" which shouldn't figure into this post but in spirit of understanding and disclosure-there you are.
Little did I know the real meaning of the evening would begin when I washed and dried my hair earlier in the afternoon. The hair experience is still a mystery to me. Today however, I decided to step outside the box and let my "freak flags fly"...so to speak. I always admired the girls with the wild hair so I spritzed my hair with some sort of curling conditioner recommended by my friend. I let it dry, teased my hair a little and off I went.
Cincinnati is actually and hour and half or so from where I live but for any number of reasons I have always been drawn to it. Seemingly the place has been the spot where many fun and special things have happened to me.
I made the trip, picked her up at her house and we headed downtown- parked and headed to all the Christmas activities. Fairly shortly we got our fill of the festive spirit and went in search of other spirits.
We didn't have to go far as Cincy has
finally started to develop the area between the two pro stadiums into an entertainment district of bars and restaurants. One of which in particular I have wanted to visit since it opened earlier this year. Among other things it brews and serves a few beers I call my "ancestral beers" or the beers I drank when I first "popped the top" on a cold brew. This was back in the day before all the now foreign giant brewers started to brain wash the beer drinking public with essentially tasteless "near beer"-but I digress. Fortunately "the Nati" is starting to return to some of it's brewing roots. (It's was a hugely German influenced city) So the night became mystical when I actually ordered a beer I hadn't seen since the early 70's and was sitting there enjoying it with my friend with all my potentially wild hair as a woman in this huge place.
Truthfully, I know my hair is
far from being the "wild thing" I imagined it to be tonight-but you know it didn't matter. I finally had connected the dots to a time when I couldn't even imagine doing what I did tonight. Plus just for a second I
was the girl with just a touch of bad I always admired. I'm selfish though, and I'll take that second I never really had.
Yes, it was an amazing "night in the Nati" and I give my friend and my
ancestral beer all the credit.
As do just two of the many trans women I have chosen pictures of to emphasize my point. To the left is "Dessert Storm Vet" Gabrielle Ludwig who is now playing college basketball at the age of 50. Certainly their stories are viewed with some sensationalism by some of the public but more importantly all of those we encounter as transgender humans make the effort worth while!
