It was a dark and stormy night.
You don't know how long I've wanted to use that line, but I never could figure out how to use it when I'm supposed to be writing about crossdressing. Anyway, it really was a dark and stormy night and a few of my sisters had come to my place in the country for a evening of silk and schmoozing, and the evening went very well. About the time things should have broken up the place rang with a loud bang and I fear I was the one who started it. It was an innocent remark, I assure you. All I said was "I wonder if we'll lose the power again" when Mother Nature answered and off went the lights.

So OK, we look out the window and saw nothing but pitch black. Carrie picked it up very quickly, asking "I wonder if it's safe to leave?" and was answered by another crack as a majestic maple started drum practice on the bedroom roof. Ask a silly question and darned if Mother Nature doesn't answer.

Thus started the Wonder Club, born of boredom and excitement as the lights flickered and died and Joan asked "I wonder what we'll do now?" Mother nature being silent, we agreed on some ground rules. Since we have all been exploring the wonder of femininity within ourselves without many answers over the years, the things the Wonder Club wondered about must never, under any circumstances, have a rational answer. That would take the fun out of it.

I started the ball rolling by wondering why pantyhose in a washer always end up in a knot that would defy an Eagle Scout. Nancy wondered what birdbrain would put hose in the washer without putting them in a bag first, but was ruled out of order as we wondered if her wonder could be construed as having been an answer to my wonder. Phyllis wondered what the connection was between stars and garters, and whether the advent of pantyhose had caused the demise of that fine old phrase. Jean wondered who was in charge of planned obsolescence at the pantyhose company, and how they managed to make hose that ran just as she left the house without time to change. Carrie wondered how they made sure the run would occur right over the varicose vein in her leg.

I was about to wonder when the lights would go on again when Jenny wondered how you could have distinguished a crossdresser in the stone age. After all, how do you tell if a mammoth skin is meant for a woman or a man. Jenny wondered how crossdressers ever managed without having bras. Nancy wondered why her bra always shifted just at the worst possible moment, leaving her lopsided. Jean wondered why so many sisters were into DDDD cups when they look so ugly. I, in turn, wondered how TVs managed in the era of nose cone bras without elastic or give, which made Nancy wonder why it made the slightest difference, as we were all in the dark, anyway.

It was Jenny who wondered if there was ever a blind crossdresser, and how he would cope without reading mail order catalogs. Soon Jean was wondering why a catalog for queen size women always had models that were a size 8, and Phyllis wondered just what the heck a 'full figure fashion' was anyway. She'd never seen anyone with only a partial figure, unless it was herself before stuffing her bra. That set Jenny to wondering why lately it was easier to find a blouse that fit her femme self, when nobody seems to be making shirts that fit her male self. Used to be the other way around.

Speaking of mail, Phyllis wondered where all the letters she mailed to sisters who swore that they would answer everyone who wrote ended up. I wondered if they went to the same place where my odd stockings went from the dryer. No, Jean said, the wonder was that when you opened a PO box it took only about three weeks for your name to be on every mailing list for swingers magazines and you started getting every Lane Bryant catalog ever printed before you even ordered anything. Carrie wondered what the people at the post office thought of her mail, and I wondered how they maintained their professionalism when they had to be laughing every time they filled the box. Nancy wondered how the box stayed empty for weeks at a time, and then was stuffed so full you needed mining tools to get the mail loose.

Carrie wondered why she was blessed with a six foot plus body with black fur when some people - no names mentioned please - had the infernal luck to be slim, blonde, beardless and short. She also wondered why it didn't matter because it felt so good to put on panties and bra. Nancy wondered how lacy things on her wife's body caused such different emotions from the same clothes on his own body, and Phyllis wondered why some people were lucky enough to have a wife the same size to trade clothes with.

About that time, I wondered just how much more of this I could take when the lights came back on. The magic was gone and the wonder Club adjourned until further notice.