Really? My neighbor has to fix his fence at 10:15 PM, when I am leaving en femme?!

[Keri L]

Well, you try to be careful, but I guess things happen.

I was all dressed head to toe, or wig to boots, if you like, and I was on my way out. As I backed out of the garage, I noticed a hole in my neighbors fence and thought "that's strange, I wonder if the boards rotted". Then, I see them. He and his son were walking from their driveway over the the fence in need of repair with boards in their hands, and here I am pulling out, totally en femme, strawberry blond wig and all.

Needless to say, I did not stop to chat. Now, I am wondering "did they both see me, or are my windows tinted enough so that they didn't? It was dark, of course, seeing as how it was 10:15 pm on Friday night. By the way, what the hell? Who fixes their fence at that hour?

Anyway, part of me is not too worried about it. But, I have always tried to be discrete for my wife's sake and my kids (even though they're still toddlers right now). Part of me thinks there's a 30-40% chance they did not see me clearly. I guess I will be able to tell next time I see them and gauge their reaction, friendliness, etc.

Oh well, that's life, I suppose. It won't keep me from carrying on.

[Erica Marie]

Maybe there was a reason they decided to fix the fence as you were leaving. Are they nosy neighbors? Do they have any other reason to believe you come home male and leave female? Oh well maybe it was a coincidence. Hope you had a fun time and dont let it stop you.

[Nikki A.]

It's dark, them probably aren't that close and maybe not paying that much attention. At worst they might have thought it was your wife driving.

[Trisha65]

If it was dark and you have tinted windows, I doubt they noticed. If they did, they may have thought someone was driving your car. I wouldn't worry.

[Keri L]

They are not really the nosey type. As for having any suspicions, it's hard to say. I keep my arms chest, stomach and legs hair free, and my wife says my eyebrows are too thin, so it's not impossible that some have some suspicions.

But, most of the neighbors are pretty quiet in the evenings and are never out.

I did have a great time that evening out at a nightclub called Numbers, here in Houston. The owner just passed away, and this weekend was kind of a memorial to him. He was a pioneer of video mixing starting in the 80's, and every Friday they do an 80's night, which is a blast. He also hosted bands like Nine Inch Nails, before they were famous, and still has new bands there from time to time.

Everyone's hoping the club stays open as it draws about as eclectic group of people you could ever find--people of all ages, creeds and interests. There is absolutely no dress code, so you'll see it all there. And the people are accepting of alternative lifestyles, although it's not an LGBT bar by any means. It's a bar/club for misfits, who are proud of that fact!

[MisterEgurl]

Hopefully, they were too busy trying to get the project done before midnight so the Mystical Midnight Fence Inspectors wouldn't issue them ten demerits or something. With a little luck, their focus was so intensely on the horror and derision those ten demerits will heap on them in the eyes of the Inspectors who only come at 1:00 in the morning to cite violators when they least expect it. SERIOUSLY!? What's WITH that? I have the same sort of dumb luck. The day I decide to go all-out (makeup, wig, etc.) only THEN, after weeks and weeks of no visitors, THEN at that very moment that I've got my eyeliner perfect and I'm not sweating through my foundation, does my nosy neighbor decide that she just NEEDS to chat with me so bad about the issue she has been meaning to chat with me about for months but had forgotten to do so the two dozen or so times we have talked in the last week alone. And she knows I'm home because she had seen me arrive home at exactly 1:25PM with three Sears bags in my hands and had noted exactly so in her Official Spinster Snooping Log (inspected by the Mystical Snooping Log Inspectors).

Now would be the right time to mention that nice quiet town park where nobody goes because the other one is much nicer and by the river and actually has attractive stuff like playground equipment, the dog park, a pond and walking paths, etc... Well, I've been going to this other, ugly, useless park in drab for months at lunchtime and have not seen a single solitary other human being or near-human entity there for the entire time. I decide to go there wearing something as simple as a sundress one somewhat overcast, drizzly afternoon when nobody would really be interested in hanging out in this inferior, out-of-the-way park that would be mostly mud in this weather. I just wanted to stroll for a bit and feel the unseasonably cool breeze on my legs, you know just for a little while. I get out of my car, dodge the muddy spots and make for the benches on the edge of the field to sit and maybe stroll around the potholed, wrecked basketball courts. That, apparently, was the moment when half the town's population received a subliminal message from beyond the stars, to drive down to the park and hang out in their cars, parking all around my car, specifically, despite there being MANY other parking spots and nicer without so many deep potholes to muck things up, ones to boot. So, now I'm over on the other side of the park, in my gorgous bright blue dress and my Mary Jane flats hanging out on the peeling bench, under some trees, being mercilessly dripped upon, watching this dozen cars as they just sit there idling. They're just there; a dozen of them. Just sitting there. In their cars. Texting on phones or reading books and just peering around at this sudden meeting of the Impromptu Association of Random Park Parkers. But there's more! After weeks and weeks of never seeing a single one, in months of going here for lunch as the single solitary inhabitant of the park, three police cars arrive and decide to sit as well! They must be members of the IARPP, too! I was ready to die. Instead I waited and became increasingly wet and frustrated. After about an hour, the cars, as mysteriously as they arrived, drove off in dribs and drabs. The police had something exciting to do, very suddenly. They made a spectacle of flying mud and flashing lights as they departed. I never ran so fast in my life. I ruined my shoes, surely hitting every mud puddle as I ran back to my car!

Oh, then the time I was spending a week house-sitting for my friend at his beautiful penthouse condo. He had only been living there for a month or two and as he was recently relocated here, didn't expect visitors and didn't really know his neighbors. It was far from anywhere that someone besides him would know me. He has a huge, gorgeous and completely private roof deck. So, I brought over a few outfits and decided to take the opportunity to enjoy some time dressed out of doors on the roof. Well, I got a case of the nerves. What I had hoped would be six glorious days of dressing full-time, lounging out on that deck, getting the most ridiculous tan lines on my chest and loving the sound of heels on hardwood and marble floors turned into a brief but infuriating stint of panic undressing. I took a long luxurious bath in the whirlpool tub, shaved up, got dressed, made up and wigged. Then the fire alarm went off. I tried to not panic. But then I heard the firemen in the hallway. I think I took a Scotchbrite pad to my face in the fury of trying to get that makeup off. I tore my pantyhose (and nice new ones too) to shreds and managed to just barely get on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt, when the pounding on the door and "FIRE DEPARTMENT, THERE'S A FIRE" hollering started.

Strange things happen when I wear a dress.

[Tracii G]

I wouldn't worry about it really.

[Keri L]

Okay, you have me beat, MisterEGurl! LOL. I suppose it goes with the territory.

I don't mind being read, and I am getting a little braver about venturing out in public. But, my preferred public doesn't include my neighbors!

[MisterEgurl]

I hear you, Caitlyn. I'm still not at a point where I can go out and not look like a huge dude in a dress, so I prefer solitary, secure spaces, which are nearly impossible to find.

[linda allen]

You fix your fence when you get a chance to. Many folks have jobs and obligations so that may have been the most convenient time for him to do it.

If you go out dressed, you take the chance. All you can do is minimize it.

[Emma500]

Hi Caitlyn,

I'm impressed that you don't mind been read - that is a stage I want to get to. How do you reply when people make comments etc? I just freeze and want the situation to end!!

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Caitlyn, He probably mowed the grass after fixing the fence and then rotate the tires at midnight.

[Robin777]

Do they have a dog? Maybe they were fixiing it to keep the dog from getting out.

[Keri L]

Hi Caitlyn,

I'm impressed that you don't mind been read - that is a stage I want to get to. How do you reply when people make comments etc? I just freeze and want the situation to end!!

Well, I would prefer it if people did not read me, but at 6'3, I know it happens. I just try to blend as well as possible, i.e. wear age appropriate clothing and clothing appropriate to the situation.

Lately, the comments have not been ones exactly calling me out, but instead, comments about why do I do what I do, or are you, married, etc., comments which imply that they know. But, since they are not ugly, I just answer them. And often, I also get a comment about how natural my hair looks (love my wig!) or complementing my outfit from the same person, so I think they are accepting me, nevertheless.

[Barbara Dugan]

I do live in Houston too and with this lovely hot weather I like to do chores on my yard late too, I don't think is that odd

[Jodi]

I'll bet they had their scanner on and a neighborhood tranny alert come on. LOL.

Jodi

[Robin777]

So how hot was it that day? Like Barbara said, Maybe it was the cooler temperatures the reason they decided to work on it at night.

[Keri L]

I'll bet they had their scanner on and a neighborhood tranny alert come on. LOL.

Jodi

Yes, it was an F-5 on the tranny Fujita scale, lol!

[Rogina B]

Grow a tougher hide and don't be worried so! You share your house with your family..you left from your house,therefore your neighbor may assume [if he actually noticed your look] that it must be cool with your wife..so he won't say a thing..whatever floats your boat.. As time goes on you will become a lot less concerned about what others may think..

[nhlighthouse]

Don't forget the saying...Fences make good neighbors! yea right fixing a fence at 10:15pm come on! Job was performed by Dumb and Dumber Inc!

[Beverley Sims]

Well, I do go up on the roof and adjust my 16 foot satellite dish at 2.00 am in the morning, so what is unusual about a neighbor fixing his fence at 10.00 pm.
That's early. :)

[Kate Simmons]

"Fence Fixers R Us". You break 'em, we fix 'em any day, any hour.:battingeyelashes::)

[Lorileah]

Texas...summertime 90 degree heat 95% humidity...I would work at night too. Usually though there is a 9 PM limit on noise in most areas.

[Monique L]

One snowy evening about 2 am I came home after an night out and my 60 year old neighbor is out shoveling snow out of her driveway. Since there was no way of getting into the house without being seen, I cheerfully asked her if she needed any help. After that I gave up trying to figure out what any of my neighbors are thinking.

[joanna4]

If they saw you it won't matter in a few months or years. Keep doing what you enjoy doing because your lifetime will run out eventually. If you are tinted between 35% to 20% then you are good. At night they will see nothing but a silhouette. You have a great attitude, keep carrying on and I hope you had a great time out.

[linda allen]

Since you were already in the car when you backed out of that garage, the most they could have seen was a woman driving your car. That might take some explaining, but something like "I let a friend borrow it." should do if anyone asks.

[DonnaT]

Just back from Texas, and it had been several straight days in the 100s.

[kimdl93]

I wouldn't worry. We seldom notice what others are doing.

[dragdoll]

That, apparently, was the moment when half the town's population received a subliminal message from beyond the stars, to drive down to the park and hang out in their cars, parking all around my car, specifically, despite there being MANY other parking spots

This has happened to me before and it is infuriating.

[donnatracey]

Just back from Texas, and it had been several straight days in the 100s.

Try 10 straight over 100 here in San Antonio!.....with at least 3 more in a row coming......:doh:

[Allison Chaynes]

Caitlyn,

You reminded me of a funny story from a few weeks ago. My neighbor was out mowing her yard at 5 AM (which I did NOT appreciate) about two months ago. A few weeks later, I was coming home from running errands and she ran over asking if I could help her figure out why her mower wouldn't start. I looked at it, and then an idea hit me. I asked her if she ever mowed early in the morning, before 9 am. She said yes. I told her that the dew gets into the microflatulation valve and can keep it from starting. So I pretended I was allowing the valve to "air out" and thankfully her mower started right up. She has not mowed her yard before 9 am since.

Perhaps somehow there's a similar idea you can use on your neighbor?