sistawendy | Nun picnics with other trans people.

I heard about a trans picnic in Volunteer Park a couple of weeks ago. There was no org behind it, as I learned later, just trans people showing up. I figured maybe, just maybe, a dozen or two people would show up because, let's face it, trans people are neither all that numerous nor all that driven to hang out together.

Clearly, I needed to think again. There must have been at least two hundred trans people there! And it sure looked like a solid majority of the people there were, in fact, trans. There were maybe two other trans people there who I even recognized. People brought their dogs; Nun pets ensued. I had trouble finding shade to sit and eat in that wasn't uncomfortably close to someone else. I got my social on. It was all just one big, mellow... picnic. Fabulous! I'm beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, trans people as a group don't suck.

Sad news from K, one the trans folk I met at the picnic: AFK Tavern in Everett has closed permanently, a victim of COVID-19. For those of you not in the area, it was a nerd bar through and through: decor from every sci-fi, fantasy, and game fandom I ever heard of, people in garb and occasionally raver gear, mead on tap, some truly frightening cocktails and food that only geeks would approve of. I didn't make it there too many times because it's so far from Seattle, but I'll miss it. Damn.

I hit the Wildrose for a couple of beers. Nobody answered my online calls for companionship, but that may be for the best: there were no more tables outdoors, so I actually drank inside a bar. Luckily, it was early and uncrowded. And yes, Ruth the owner & bartender is still cute.