Heels, Easter, and Old Trains

When I finished my last photo session, it seemed that several photos were missing, and I chalked it up to "operator failure" in handling the transfer from camera to computer.   But the camera simply put them into a new directory, for some unknown reason!  And that's where I found them...still hidden in my camera.  It was of my new Charity Shop outfit with my new heels.  I'm not sure why the directory they were stored in changed, but at least I found them! 

So, I decided to post them today.  Anyone care to comment whether my shirttail looks better tucked in with this skirt, or should it be left untucked?  And what do you think?  Is this a suitable outfit to wear in public?

Last Thursday I stopped at my nail salon to make my appointment for a fill this coming Thursday (I'll get my hair colored then;  I do both salons the same day.)  And I drop in to make my appointments, because the girl who answers the phone has a very thick foreign accent, and I prefer to know it's in the book - for the right time and on the right day. 


Daggonit, wearing heels is a really great feeling.   I think I'm getting hooked on them!

I needed to get some real-world walking practice, since they felt OK the other night when I wore them inside, during the better half's absence because of a planned-for-months hen party. But I obviously couldn't walk very far in them inside the house, and I wasn't ready to risk walking in the basement, where I would have been able go around the stairwell, in a big circle.  If she got home early, I wouldn't be able to hear her till it was too late.  So I put them in the car, and parked about as far from the nail salon as I could, requiring me to "hoof it" in my new heels, maybe a quarter mile.

Clicking along in my heels,  I crossed the almost-empty parking lot (the good news, nobody was  around - the bad news, if someone had arrived, I was definitely stuck out in the open!  Nobody drove in.)  When I opened the door at the salon, the girl was doing a pedicure on a female, but she looked up, saw me (in my heels), and gave me a big smile.  She walked over, got out the appointment book for me, put it on the counter, and looked down at my shoes...   "Pretty heels, Ma'am..."  "Thanks!  I'll see you Thursday!"  "OK, Ma'am."  She knew, but played along.  Then I began the hike back to my car, once again enjoying the new angle my heels forced on my feet, and the sexy clicking sound I was making.  If I were a guy, I'd have turned around to look! 

As I walked back to the car, this time past some store fronts, I noticed that my feet were pushing more toward the front of the shoes, leaving a bit of space behind the heel, which was slightly visible in the store windows as I went by.  I have heel pads to put in, but it just seems like the smooth hose inside the smooth shoes were causing excess slippage.  (The next size smaller, and even smaller plus wider, were both too tight - I tried them.)  I may get those cushions to put on the insole, to minimize my hose slipping, before I even add the pads to the heels.  If it doesn't work, those cute but inexpensive heels may be suitable only for short distances like dinner out,  or for wearing without hose.  But they sure feel nice and look great!

On Easter Sunday, I actually went forward with my plan to wear one of Mom's stirrup outfits and her necklace to visit her at the Nursing Home.  As usual, she was glad to see me, and thought I had dressed up very appropriately for Easter, including my "patent leather flats."  I thanked her, but commented that since I was wearing one of her outfits, the good taste was actually hers. We both had a fun time with that!

Unfortunately, she didn't recognize her old necklace, but thought it looked very nice.  Her only concern was that the nurses would think I was a girl.  I assured her that wasn't going to be the case...and the subject got changed.  (I just omitted telling her that some of the residents already think I'm a girl!)

Eventually our visit ended, and I left.  On the way home (a half hour drive), I took back roads (WAY back roads - saw no cars on the way), so I stopped to try to get a couple of pictures of my Easter outfit.  Two problems:  the wind had picked up - what a surprise!  (It's been windy here almost every day.)  Thirty MPH wind totally destroyed my hairdo in just a few seconds.  And, I don't know where all the cars on this back road came from.  I saw nothing in either direction for a 5 full minutes when I was actually moving.  But within 30 seconds of when I had stopped, gotten out, propped my camera on the trunk lid and walked into the first picture, the parade of cars began.   In this picture, traffic was coming from the opposite direction, but a few minutes later, the direction was reversed!

I was truly flattered by the number of driver that stopped to ask "Is everything all right, Ma'am?"  Five cars, some in each direction, in the first two minutes.  By that time I figured it was hopeless, with my destroyed hairdo and the heavy traffic on this narrow road.  Of course, I thanked everyone who stopped, and in my best femme voice (none too good) told them that everything was all right - always good to be polite!   And as the last car pulled away, I got in mine and moved on...


Now for a taste of something totally unrelated to skirts, dresses and heels...    

The location:  Aberdeen, MD on the Pennsylvania Railroad (now Amtrak) Northeast Corridor.  The locomotive looks like southbound former PRR/Penn Central 4866, making short work of a passenger train.  The date - I really don't know for sure.  Most likely it's from the winter of 1974, the only time I did a lot of train watching in that area (unfortunately I wasn't in dresses back then!)

And another rail oddity - a Turbo train in service.  This was taken in the early 90's in upstate New York...possibly Rochester.  Turbo trains were retired in the 1990's, and have been (or are in the process of being) scrapped. 

  
It really is OK for girls to like mechanical things, as well as the softer side of life!  But in retrospect, how I really do wish I could have ridden one of these antiques en femme...