GOOD TIMES... Summer (Part 70e)

I heard Elle get up with the kids the next morning. I was thinking about getting up when Elle appeared in the door and told me that she’d just seen Mac and Elise drive away. I don’t know what made me think of it then but I realized that I still had the envelope that Mac had given me and it was still in my shirt pocket. In the bathroom I went "fishing” in the washing machine trying to find the shirt I’d worn the day before. When I found it I immediately opened the envelope and almost couldn’t believe what I was looking at. It was a black and white picture of Lil , topless and wearing only panties. I recognized that it had been taken in the newest section of the trailer park back when it was being cleared the previous Summer or Fall. As I looked at it I had a lot of questions... and nobody to ask to get answers. However, my immediate problem was what to do with the picture itself. Elle knew where the pictures I'd taken of her were hidden so that was not an option. As I got dressed I decided that I'd pull out the bottom drawer of the night stand on my side of the bed. As I slipped it in I took one last look and still couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing.

I hate to admit it but a lot of my thoughts the rest of the morning were concentrated on that picture. Why was Lil topless? Who took the picture? Did anybody witness it being taken? Did Andy know about it? There were a lot more as well. Another question was how was I going to get it back to Mac. But the thoughts of Mac reminded me that I'd promised to clean the last of his junk and trash up before the new owner of his trailer arrived. I knew I could move it to my yard for the weekend pick up but eventually some of it had to go to the landfill. The trash collectors for the park were limited to household trash and garbage and wouldn't touch it. Even though I didn't really want to I knew it would probably be best to go get it at lunch and to take it all to the landfill. However, to do that I needed the station wagon. It was starting to get complicated.

When I walked in the trailer there was a shock for both Elle and I. She wasn’t expecting to see me and I wasn’t expecting to see her wearing what she was wearing. The skirt I saw her in was almost as short as the one that Jay, Jo and I had seen in the city on the woman who was hailing a cab. When Elle saw the shock on my face she started to smile and quickly lifted the hem. I expected to see her panties but what I saw was a pair of shorts that matched the material of the skirt. I was truly puzzled.

Today, it would be called a skort... shorts and skirt combined. I have no idea what it was called at that time but Elle explained that she’d gotten it at the church thrift shop when she’d taken the clothes that Elise had decided not to take with her. She said that, in spite of not being white, it appeared that it was more appropriate for tennis than her bermuda shorts. As I looked at it I had to agree. It was a green and blue tartan plaid and looked good on her. She said she was wearing it because she and Alice were going to hit some balls and were leaving in just a few minutes. I then explained why I was home and my need for the wagon. We exchanged car keys and then I was off to load up for the landfill.

There was a lot more stuff than Mac had shown me the day before but there was nothing I could do about it then but to pick it all up. I had to do it then as the landfill closed at 5pm and I couldn’t get there after work before it closed. The weekend was out as I was working with Jay. So, dressed in “good clothes” I proceeded to load it all into the back of the wagon. The regular trash bin was also filled and there were any number of paper bags surrounding it. I was cussing myself for having agreed to do this.

At the landfill it was relatively easy because all I had to do was to shove the junk out the back. It left a mess on the floor of the wagon but that was something I could take care of after work. I’d put the trash bin in the front seat along with the paper bags. I grouped a couple of the bags together in one hand along with the bin. As I pulled the bags out of the car one got caught and tore. I remember swearing but kept on going. I threw the empty bin in the back and went for the last of the bags. As I approached the open door I saw something that literally made my day. On the ground were a bunch of panties. Even though there was a car right next to me, without hesitation, I quickly scooped them up and threw then onto the front seat. My next thought was to go back and find the ripped bag in the pile of trash. It didn’t take long and once found I snatched it right up.

I was already about a half hour late coming back from lunch but I knew I had to go through my “find” before returning. In all there were about eight or nine pair of well worn panties along with some slips, both full and half and what was probably a peignoir. Sitting there I quickly found myself with a rather substantial bulge. I wanted to check out the labels but my conscience was reminded me that I was late so drove off, heading back to work.

It was later in the afternoon that it came to me that I had to put these things in something other than the torn bag or find a hiding place for them. The only place I could think of was my grandfather’s carriage house (garage) and I’d have to do it before going home. And... if I went there I’d have to visit with him. And... if I did that I’d have to explain to Elle why I was so late. As I stated earlier, the day was getting complicated and it continued to do so.

Let’s leave it with the thought that I survived the "grilling". When it came to explanations I wasn’t completely truthful nor was I a total liar. It was more that the truth got twisted a bit and certain details were omitted. As I lay in bed that night I was trying to figure out when I could get back to the carriage house to do a real inspection of my “find”.

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Summer (Part 70d)

Armed with a chain saw we set about cutting the debris up to manageable sizes. Then the biggest problem was getting the junk to the landfill. We could only use Jay’s 4 wheel drive truck to get to and from the location of the breach because the town still hadn’t cleared the drifted sand off the road. Because of that it was very slow going and by noon we’d only moved three truckloads. By the time we sent Albert off for the last trip we’d only moved two more. I was physically beat. Jay suggested that we load his truck up one more time and he’d take it home and go right to the landfill first thing on Sunday. As we left for the night I looked around and truthfully thought we’d bitten off more than we could handle.

At least we had a decent day on Saturday. As I walked out of the trailer early Sunday morning I was greeted by fog. The closer I got to the island the worse it got. Albert was waiting for me but we could only take the panel truck as far as the breach as we had to wait for Jay to show up. I thought that Saturday was tough but it was worse that day. I will agree that I could see some definite progress but what was left was a daunting task. That night I was asleep by the time the kids were in bed (8pm).

I was aching and still barely awake when I arrived at work. I’d completely forgotten that the County Board of Supervisors were to meet on that day. Jay surely hadn’t as the proposal to pay us cash for compensatory time was to be considered. Even the reminder of that did little to energize me. Elle was still ”on me“ for working on the weekend (and those to come) and I was sore as could be. I really wanted to quit the project but was smart enough to realize that if I did it could jeopardize my good working relationship with Jay. I was conflicted, to say the least.

It was mid afternoon when Leo, the deputy controller, came in the room and had Jay follow him to his office. Just the sight of Leo upset me and having him walk in the room got me going (in a negative way) again. Hate is a strong word but I can, after all these years, truthfully say I hated that man. In any case Jay was gone for quite a while. When he returned he was very obviously happy. He called Jo and I over to a corner behind the computer and printer. The Board had approved the payment to us but what had made him most happy was that they also approved the move of the Data Processing department to a much larger area within the building. Then he told us the bad news... we were not going to be paid for overtime without receiving prior approval. The operative word was ”prior“ and to make it worse, it had to come from Leo himself. I was moderately happy about the money but the fact that Leo had interjected himself into our happy little domain was really upsetting. Things had been going so well and in a matter of three days it seemed to have changed.

I vowed to talk with Jay about the beach job on Tuesday. I just wanted to see if there wasn’t some better way to do what we were doing. I made a list of things to consider and during our break I brought them up. Jo was with us and before I’d gone all that far she jumped in and said she’d like to help. As I’ve said, I really liked Jo. But this work was all about money and once she spoke up my first thought was that I’d have to share some of what I was expecting to make... but I didn’t say anything. Jay took her offer and my suggestions and said he’d consider them.

When I got back to the office there was a message from Elle. My first thought was that something had happened to one of the kids or to my grandmother. It was neither. Elise, Mac’s wife, had called to say that they were leaving a few days earlier than planned and that Mac wanted me to stop by their trailer on my way home. Their trailer was on the same street that my old trailer was on. With cars parked on both sides of the street there was only room for one car to pass through. By the fact it was close to 6pm and most people were home from work there was no room to park so I stopped right in the middle of the street. Mac was loading things into the back seat of his car when I walked up. He told me that he’d been mustered out a few days early. After checking the weather forecast for the rest of the week he felt it best for them to take off the next day rather than wait for Friday. Riding a motorcycle, he didn’t want to ride in rain. His big problem was that the new owner of the trailer was coming on Friday. He took me into the back yard and showed me a pile of stuff that no one had bought or wanted and he just didn’t have time to dispose of it. Trash pick up was Saturday morning and he didn’t want to leave all their stuff for the new owner and asked me to dispose of it for him.

He was a good guy and Elle really liked his wife. I really didn’t want to but I said I would. As I did he made one of those ”off hand“ statements that we all make from time to time along the lines of ”I owe you.“ That reminded me of the fact that he’d promised to let me know the results of the bet that he’d made with Lil, Andy’s wife, about the loser walking down the street in their underwear. When I brought it up he darted into the trailer and was back quickly. He motioned me to the front of the trailer by the cars and handed me an envelope. He told me to take it home and bring it back later. I put it in my shirt pocket and as Elise showed up with more things to go in the car that was all the conversation we had on the subject. By then there was a car behind mine wanting to get by so I told him I’d see him later.

At my trailer I found my mother and father waiting. They wanted to see the kids and since Elle hadn’t gone to see her mother in a while decided to stop by on their way home from the hospital visiting my grandmother. Elle, graciously, asked them to stay for supper. The next thing I knew it was dark and time for the kids to go to sleep. I’d wanted to say a final good by to Mac and Elise with Elle but had to do it by myself. The only thing was that even though their car was there, no one was home. Back at the trailer I promptly fell asleep watching TV.

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Summer (Part 70c)

The equipment presentation was very good and all the way back Jay kept “dreaming” of all the things he could do if the county were to purchase one. Jo slept most of the way back and I started “spending” the money I was hoping to make if the guy that Jay was waiting on to call back agreed to it. First on my list was a new set of sails. Mine were eight years old and the previous season I’d rationalized that I’d only used them for four years. The rule of thumb was three years at the most. I knew they cost close to $200 and by the time we reached the County Center I was “psyched” about being able to afford it. When Jo said “good night“ she, again, told us we were ”naughty“ but laughed as she did. It was a worthwhile and fun trip.

Elle was asleep by the time I got home. There was a note on the kitchen counter that my grandmother was out of intensive care and back in the same hospital room that she’d been in. That news made it an an almost perfect day.

When I woke up Elle couldn’t wait to tell me that she’d played tennis with Alice and had fun. I asked what she’d worn. She told me bermuda shorts which wasn’t what I was really asking about. Because of her ”problem“ she’d pretty much avoided extended physical activity. It took her a few seconds to realize what I was really asking. Because she hadn’t done anything like this since college and didn’t know who might be at the courts (they were located at the high school and were open to the public up to 2pm daily and after 6pm) she wore a whole ”package“. I couldn’t believe that she’d actually done that and was still able to run around. She smiled when I questioned her. Then she asked when I’d go with her.

Right at that moment tennis was pretty close to being last on my ”want to do“ list. It didn’t stay there long though. I made the mistake of telling her that I was definitely going to be working with Jay over the next three weekends. The fact that I had the opportunity to make as much as $300 didn’t sway her. Then I compounded the mistake. She asked what I planned to do with the money and I mentioned the sails.

It was the first time since we’d moved there that I saw her really mad. I got an ear full of how selfish I was with my time and how I’d used the excuse of ”doing it for the family“ too many times. She was on a rant and I really didn’t have a response. By then I was late for work and as I walked out the door she told me that she expected to see me for supper. She didn’t have to say the ”or else“.

The day got better when Jay finally got the call from the guy about the job. He was on the phone for quite a while but had a smile on his face when he hung up the receiver. The guy was coming out to the house on Friday and wanted to meet with Jay. He was bringing a check for $500 and the remainder would be paid when the job was done to his satisfaction. It wasn’t perfect but it was still pretty good.

That night I made it home by 6pm which barely qualified as being ”on time“. After a very quiet meal Elle suggested that we take the kids to the high school to play and we ”might“ as well take our tennis rackets. There really wasn’t much I could say. A lot of what she’d said was true and for me to put up a weak defense would’ve only made her madder. The only thing I remember was that she told me they required ”sneakers“ on the courts. The last pair I owned was when I was in college. I figured that what they were looking for was rubber soles so dug out my ”boat shoes“ that I wore to go sailing. I put on a pair of my work pants and a short sleeved shirt. I’d seen pictures of the famous players wearing white clothes but my thought was to just satisfy Elle and not be a fashion plate. I did convince her that she didn’t have to wear full ”package“ and that two pair of the heavy cotton panties, a sanitary pad and her sanitary panties would suffice. That was about all the conversation we had.

I’d never been to the high school since we’d moved to town and was surprised at just how much land they had. The tennis courts were a bit out of the way but there was easy access to them from a side street. Of the four courts two were occupied. All the players were men dressed in white shorts and shirts. I knew they were giving me the once over because every time I looked their way, they were looking at me. Elle had on a pair of bermuda shorts and a regular blouse, certainly not tennis attire. The fact that this was my first time on a regulation tennis court didn’t help. In college all I’d done was to hit against the gymnasium wall so I was really struggling with the whole situation. About the only positive was that my older daughter, Jean, had fun chasing the errant balls (of which there were many). We only stayed for a short time with Elle accusing me of ”not trying“, which was partially true. I vowed (to myself) that the next time I had a racket in my hand no one else would be around. Tennis wasn’t mentioned over the next two days.

Jay met with the homeowner on Friday and got the first $500 in a check which was exciting to see. I got the home ”chores“ for the weekend done that night so I didn’t have that weighing over my head. Jay told me that he’d resurrected his father’s old panel truck and put an old license plate on it so that we, hopefully, could move more debris. We agreed to meet at the bridge to the island at 7am because the landfill closed on Saturday’s at 5pm. Thankfully, Elle was still asleep when I left, so I didn’t feel all that guilty as I left.

When Jo, Jay and I had made the first trip to the island to view the damage I hadn’t really taken close notice of all the property that we were clean up. I hadn’t realized that Jay had committed us to cleaning the debris from all of it. I had it in mind that we were just working on the stuff jammed under and around the house. As I surveyed the job that morning I wondered how we’d be able to do it in just six days. I had my doubts.

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Summer (Part 70b)

My mother had called Elle and “suggested” that Elle and I make an appearance at the hospital. Nothing had changed but she insisted that it was the right thing to do. By the time we got back I was asleep on my feet. It was a very, very busy weekend.

When Jay walked in on Monday morning I couldn’t help but to notice the cuts on his hands. He’d gone out to the barrier island to start moving the debris from the place we’d visited. At coffee break time he told Jo and I that it was much more than he’d bargained for. He said he had worked all day and hadn’t made much progress. Because of so much debris from the storm the town landfill had limited access to only those who lived in the township. Jay lived in the next township to the West and even though he was working for a man who lived in the town the gatekeepers wouldn’t let him in. He had to drive another 20 miles to get to his own town landfill. He told us that he was ready to quit but if he did he probably wouldn’t get paid for what he’d already done. He didn’t ask me directly but I sure had the feeling he was looking for me to volunteer to help him.

Jay didn’t join Jo and I for lunch and when we returned to work he was on the phone. A little later he came up to me and said he had a “deal” for me. I knew I owed him more than one favor but I really wasn’t interested in the project he was working on. He told me that he finally made contact with the property owner and told him he was quitting. The guy ended up pleading with Jay to stay on. Jay’s arrangement had been for an hourly wage. I don’t remember what it was but it was more than Jay was making when we were making replacement stairs. Jay said he told the guy that he’d only do it on one condition and that was for a flat fee. The guy told Jay to come up with a number and get back to him. That’s where the “deal” for me came in. It was Jay’s idea to charge enough so that he could “hire” me as well as his cousin (the one who helped switch engines in my Chevy cars). He felt that with the three of us it could be completed by the end of June and we’d all make some real money. I told him I’d think about it and for him to come up with the “number” that he would give to the homeowner.

With Summer rapidly approaching there were a lot of things I wanted to and needed to do on weekends. Money wasn’t as much of a problem as it had been and I wasn’t as "hungry" as I’d been during the Winter. I ran the idea by Elle and she felt much the same as I did. We’d been looking forward to spending time together with the kids. When we were making the playhouses Jay and I were earning about $5 an hour which was WAY above the going rate at the time. I decided to wait and see what Jay came up with for a “wage” but I had my mind set on that same $5.

I was looking forward to hearing what price Jay came up with on Tuesday. When he arrived he told me he was going to ask for $1000. He figured that if we all worked for ten hours on both Saturday and Sunday for the next three weekends the three of us could each make $300. The extra $100 would cover gas and wear and tear on the truck. I did a quick calculation and it came up with that "magic" $5 per hour. I told him I liked it but now he had to call the guy. He said he was hard to get in touch with but he'd keep trying during the day.

Tuesday was also important in that it was the day that Jo, Jay and I were going in to the city to see the presentation of some new equipment. Jay’s expenses were being covered but Jo and I were on our own. We waited until 4pm hoping to hear from the guy about the job. When he hadn't called back by then, we had to leave to make sure we found the location and and a place to park. We made good time as the rush hour was headed out of the city and not into it. The program was to start at 7:30pm and we had the truck parked a little after 6pm. I still had some memories of just how crowded the city could be even after the workers were let off but both Jo and Jay were shocked. But it wasn’t just the number of people we saw. It was what so many women were wearing. Watching TV I’d seen some of the new styles but they hadn’t really reached or caught on in our somewhat rural area. We saw many skirts at mid thigh which certainly caught our attention. But it was the one’s that were even higher than that had us gawking. I remember one in particular.

We decided to have a couple of hot dogs bought from a street vendor. We were on 6th avenue and at about mid block. I felt Jay poke me and point to this young woman who was straddling the curb with one foot in the street and the other on the sidewalk. She was trying to hail a taxi cab. Much to all of our surprise, (and at least to Jay’s and my pleasure) when she’d rise her hand up and wave it, her skirt was so short that we could see a bit of her panties. I remember Jo holding her hand up to her mouth with her eyes bugged out in pure disbelief. With both Jay and my eyes permanently fixed on the woman's butt, Jo ended up smacking Jay on the arm. It was our first live experience with a mini skirt. Here we were in mid block on a crowded city street and Jo started in on both of us about being voyeurs and telling us to behave. I kept my eyes on Jay and he had this big grin on his face. Jo smacked him a couple of more times but she was sort of laughing as well. I liked her... a lot.

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Summer (Part 70a)

That next weekend was (and in my mind, still is) a blur. Rex had scheduled the second work session at the sailing club. We had more people but less commitment. Most of them were celebrating Memorial Day by opening their Summer homes so only stopped by for a couple of hours. Because the weather had stayed cool and windy and Saturday was cloudy, most of the ladies (including Elle) opted not to come. Only Rex and I were there for the whole day and by the time we left it was after 4pm. Elle had made me promise to go to my parents house and to search for my old tennis racket. Having just come from the sailing club, with a lot of talk about the upcoming racing season, I spent some time looking over my sailboat while rummaging through the garage. Seeing the boat reminded me that I really needed a new set of sails. Another thing to add to my “wish list“. I spent an hour going through boxes trying to find the racket. Giving up I stopped to say ”hello” to my mother. When I told her what I was looking for she smiled, got up, went into the hall closet and, voila, there was the racket in her hand.

When I got to the trailer Elle was pleased to see me with racket in hand but I could tell she wasn’t all that happy with me. Jim had stopped by a short time before I arrived to see if I was ready to go to the stock car races. Traditionally, the track opened the weekend before Memorial Day but it had been rained out and postponed to this week. As Elle mentioned it I remembered that in my semi drunken state at Mac’s party I had told Jim that I’d go with him. His cousin, the racecar driver, had a brand new car and was racing in the top division for the first time. I stood there, tired as could be with Elle sort of upset, trying to make a decision. Before I could there was a knock on the door and it was Andy. Jim and Andy worked in the same division for a local township and had become good friends and Jim had also convinced Andy to go as well. Hearing Andy trying to get me moving, Elle gave up and told me to just go. Truthfully, at that moment, I didn’t care.

It was cold and got colder as the night wore on. Jim had convinced us to go in the pits and be Jim’s “honorary pit crew”. That did give me a chance to look up some of the people I knew. There weren’t many and the new, more powerful cars, came from quite a distance away and their drivers and crew were strangers. I was watching one of the races from a pile of railroad ties and felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw my old classmate Cliffy. He’d joined the Navy after high school and was home on leave. He told me he was getting out in a few months and was going to go racing when he did. He wanted to know if I was still horse racing and when I told him that I wasn’t he was surprised. He was even more surprised to find out that I had two kids. It was good to see him and I made a mental note to follow up on his discharge.

Jim’s cousin had a successful debut in that he didn’t wreck the car and actually finished the race. There was a celebratory party after the races and it was after midnight by the time I got home. I didn’t expect to see a light on in the living room when I walked in and was shocked to see Elle asleep on the couch. She woke up immediately to tell me that my grandmother had taken a turn for the worse and that my parents were up at the hospital. I could hardly keep my eyes open by then but I sucked it up and headed there as well. It was around 1am or so when I showed up. The word was that she was stable and doing as well as could be expected. I hung around for a short time with a promise from my mother that she would keep me posted on her progress or lack thereof.

At around 8am there was a loud knock on the door. Elle was up and when she answered it was Lance. It turns out that, at Mac’s party, I had promised to help him with one of his new reclamation projects. After eating and getting the latest word on my grandmother I walked down the street to his trailer. I didn’t see his '49 Ford but saw this big old Cadillac. At first I thought it was a mistake because all the cars he’d bought and sold were either Fords or Chevys. I knocked on his door and he answered it while holding his son. He invited me in and as I stepped inside saw Judy disappear into the bathroom. I didn’t see much other than she was wearing just a T shirt. If only I’d been looking!

The story behind the car only added to Lance’s “legend”. He’d traded his '49 Ford for the Caddy and got the guy to give him $100. The guy was in the Air Force with Lance and had the car left to him by his grandfather. He really didn’t want it but to please his grandmother he took it. He told Lance that as a teenager riding around in this “monster” of a car he felt foolish. Lance told me he thought it would be a “fun” car to have and would certainly give he and Judy more room what with all the stuff they needed for the baby. I was smiling on the inside because he was so serious about why he wanted it. I wouldn't have been caught dead in that old "boat". The problem with the car was that it hadn’t been used regularly in many years and all the hoses and belts were dry rotted and needed to be changed as well as needing new tires and a tune up.

Lance had bought all the needed parts and we set about replacing the old ones. By late morning it was finally getting reasonably warm. Judy brought us something to drink and as I watched her walk back up the stairs I had a good VPL peek. She’d lost weight since having the baby but still had a way to go. In spite of that I enjoyed the view. We finished up in the early afternoon and when we did Lance went inside to get Judy. He wanted her to drive it once around the park to see how she liked it. Now Judy wasn’t all that short but in that car it seemed like the seat swallowed her up. As she finished her her once around and came down the street towards us I could see her looking through the enormous steering wheel. I remember trying not to laugh as she approached. In any case she wasn’t too thrilled with the car. As she tried to get out of the car I got another “treat” in the form of a DP (downpants). It was my “pay” for the day.

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69k)

Elle decided to have the girls next door babysit our kids. Even though kids were invited to the party Elle knew our younger one would be intimidated by all the adults and noise and would end up being a ”klingon“. Plus Jean, the older one, wanted to play with the toys she’d received at her birthday party the day before. Elle fed them a bit early and I went outside to play ”Flower Flip“ with the older one while she got dressed. The game was a kids version of horseshoes using plastic rings shaped to look like flowers. I was showing Jean how to throw the rings when Janelle showed up from next door. There was no doubt about the fact that she was a ”looker“ and the pale green pants she had on only added to the ”look“, at least for what I was looking for. She came over to see what we were doing and when she went down on her haunches to talk with Jean I got a beautiful DP (downpants). I called it beautiful because there was no mistaking the fact that she had on two pair of panties. I didn’t need confirmation but when she went to retrieve an errant toss by Jean and bent over to pick it up, the VPL showing two separate crotch lines made my nether region come to attention. I had to walk away.

The party had been going for quite a while by the shape some of the guests were in when we arrived. It had been cool and windy all day and with the sun now hidden by the trees most of the women had gone inside the meeting hall. The kids were running amok outside and most of the guys were gathered around the half keg that Mac had provided. It was easy to tell when Mac had a snootful as his voice went up a notch or two. In this shape he would usually ”hold court“ on one topic or another and would leave no doubt as to how he felt about it. I stood back and smiled. Typical Mac.

It was starting to get dark when the ladies insisted that the guys start cooking. Unfortunately, it interrupted another good dialog (argument) between Mac and Andy. Sober, they were very good friends but fueled by alcohol they put on a ”show“. It reminded me, again, of the bet that Mac had made with Lil, Andy’s wife, in which the looser was to walk down the street in their underwear. I’d asked Mac about it once and he’d indicated that it had been resolved but never said what the resolution was. I made a conscious decision to follow up on it before Mac left.

Some food in their stomachs seemed to calm the guys down and after everybody had eaten Mac held court to make his big announcement. I’d been ”out of the loop“ with most of the guys over the Winter but it appeared that they all knew, like me, some of Mac’s plans. He would be mustered out in two weeks and they would be on their way by the 15th of June. The big news was that with Elise and his kids going back to Ohio to live with her parents they were selling just about everything they owned. He was going to ride his motorcycle back and Elsie would drive their car, a 1959 Ford Fairlane 2 door, back with the kids. If their stuff couldn’t fit in or on the car it was staying behind. They had a buyer for the trailer and on Friday night they were having a yard sale for the residents of the trailer park. However, the people at the party would get first choice the next evening.

Jay had continued to badger me about taking his old racecar and, now that I had a few dollars in the checking account, I had begun to dream about the possibility. One thing that I would need would be a helmet and Mac had an extra one. I hadn’t mentioned the thought of doing this to Elle and had to figure some way to buy and hide it from Elle. Not an easy job. I decided to ask Jim (who’s cousin was a racecar driver) to buy it for me and to keep it. I spoke to him the night of the party and, other than the fact that he was drunk, was satisfied that I could pull it off.

One of the surprise guests at the party was Alice, the lady who had looked after our kids when Elle first started getting calls to teach. Her husband was one of the small group of residents who were involved with the development of the lunar module. From time to time he rode to work with Tom, my original neighbor, and became a fringe part of the ”group“. When the ladies were inside the meeting hall Elle and Alice sat together and, while talking, Alice asked Elle if she played tennis.

As the weather got warmer Elle had been mumbling about having some outside interests other than walking the kids around the trailer park. In college, both Elle and I had to take mandatory physical education in our freshman year. Ironically, we both chose tennis and golf. We had to buy tennis rackets which hadn’t been touched since then. After chatting with Alice, Elle wanted to go to her mother’s to see if she could find hers. She also pressured me to go look for mine. In a normal week Elle’s mother would use the excuse of coming to town to do her grocery shopping when in reality it was to come see the kids. Not this week as Elle got it in her mind to go to her mother’s the next day to dig out her tennis racket.

I got home that Thursday night to see her racket planted out in plain sight. I knew what was coming but I avoided it as I wanted to get to Mac’s to see what he had for sale. He insisted that we all wait until 7pm before he would open his shed. Elise had picked out the clothes she was keeping for herself and for her kids and had the rest laid out in the living room. Unfortunately for Elle, her taste in clothes was different so there wasn’t much to choose from. Elle was a pastel type where Elise favored dark colors. After reminding Jim of our conversation from the previous night I gave him the money for the helmet. I picked out some yard tools and a picnic table and benches. I believe the total cost was under $20 so I was really pleased. Elle told Elise that she would take the clothes that didn’t sell to the church thrift shop that she’d been frequenting which would take some of the burden off of her.(11)

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69j)

Jean, my oldest was going to be three the day before Memorial Day. (We still celebrated it on the actual day back then) and I went to the trailer park office to reserve the meeting hall just in case the weather didn’t cooperate. While looking at the reservation calendar I saw that Mac had reserved the hall for Memorial day afternoon and night. I’d not heard anything more from Mac or others about his decision not to reenlist and to go work on the Alaska pipeline. Elle hadn’t seen much of his wife since she’d starting working more at the hospital so she hadn’t been a source of any ”news“ (gossip). In a way I was upset that Mac hadn’t let me know more after his initial mention of it. I just hoped that if it was to be his farewell party that we’d get invited.

Jo had been working on Lucy to get her to lighten up a bit. I’m pretty sure it was around Memorial Day that she showed up wearing a blue jumper style dress with the hem at least an inch above her knees. I, for one, almost didn’t believe it. I don’t think she’d worn anything that wasn’t a shade of gray or plain old black from the day she started and that wasn’t at the knees or just below it. Jay and I had noticed Jo starting to wear flared skirts that fell at the knee or just above it. It appeared that she was getting to through to Lucy as far a being a little less ”stiff“ about our work habits as well. It truly was a fun place to work... as long as Leo didn’t walk in on us.

As June approached so did Jay’s 1 year anniversary. During that whole year he hadn’t missed a day of work due to sickness nor had he taken a vacation. On top of that he had accumulated almost four weeks of compensatory time for the overtime hours he’d worked. With the success of both the payroll and appropriations accounting programs the initial fear of Data Processing had pretty much disappeared. New program requests were piling up way faster than Jay could write and test them. Under State Civil Service rules an employee cannot be denied vacation time (or compensatory time) and Jay had no desire to go on vacation. However, he had a great desire for money. On a chance meeting with the Controller he took the bull by the horns and told him that he wanted to use the bulk of his time to go on a trip. Between earned vacation and compensatory time Jay had built up almost six weeks. There was no back up for him in the department. I had a little over six months experience and none of it in programming so I wasn’t an option. As Jay explained to me, it was a pure bluff and the Controller, riding the wave of success of DP that been generated, fell for it. Jay told me that the Controller was pleading with him not to do this to him. He offered a few compromises but Jay, seeing that he had the upper hand, held out for being paid for all of the time. He really rubbed it in when he wanted Jo and I included in the deal. Because the Controller couldn’t just arbitrarily authorize it and had to go before the Board of Supervisors, nothing was decided on at that time. Jay came back and dragged Jo and I off for a break and told us about it. In my case it was almost two weeks of compensatory time or the equivalent of a pay check. Needless to say I was excited.

Within the department if there was one ominous thing on the horizon it was that we were just about out of space. We had to keep all the punch cards we used and with the appropriations accounting continuing to grow the stacks of card boxes were infringing on the the work area. Jay had been getting information on a new system that used magnetic tape for storage and, on his own, planned to go to the city for a demonstration. Since it was scheduled for the evening attendance would not interfere with work. As Jay told Jo and I about it we both asked if we could go with him and his attitude was ”why not?“. It was something to look forward to.

For Jean’s birthday party I took a late lunch so I could help Elle with the last minute details. Even though the weather was fine it was a bit cold so we held the party at the meeting hall. We still hadn’t been invited to Mac’s party and it made me a bit upset. A couple of the mothers who came to Jean’s party asked Elle and I if we were coming. Since all of them were part of our unofficial ”group“ it was bit embarrassing to say that we hadn’t. That night, as we were eating supper, there was knock on the door. It was Elise, Mac’s wife, apologizing for not formally inviting us to the party. She explained that Mac had told her that he’d told me about the party and thought that was enough. It was typical Mac.

Elle had promised Jean, as one of her birthday presents, to take her to the Memorial Day parade in town. Since my grandfather lived right in the heart of town it worked out fine as we had a place to park with an optimum view. It also allowed my grandfather to see the ”birthday girl“ and give her a present. It meant nothing to her as it was a savings account with a $100 deposit in it. The cool weather from the previous day had continued only with some wind. Protected by the trees around the trailer park we were caught a little short when we got there as far as warm clothes were concerned. Elle had traded all the maternity clothes that Judy had returned for a nice green and gray and green houndstooth wool pants suit at the church thrift shop and was wearing it for the first time. Because we were basically at my grandfather’s, she had decided against wearing a ”package“, thinking that she had access to the bathroom at the house if she needed it. About a half hour into the parade I remember hearing an ”Oh no!“ from behind me and turned and saw Elle sort of doubled over with her hands crossed over in front of her groin. I knew immediately what had happened but was puzzled as to why since I knew she’d used the toilet just before we left the house to watch the parade. She took Ann and headed back to the house leaving me with the older one to wait and watch for the horses go past. By the time we rejoined them at the house she had calmed down a bit but was still upset. I can still remember her saying, as we got into the car, that she had a feeling that she should have worn the skirt that had come with the outfit.

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69i)

The jacket was a big winner... thank goodness. I did get her to wear a pair of the flowered Carter’s but not the fancy panties. We ended up spending the day visiting both sets of parents. We didn’t need presents for our mothers as bringing the girls was satisfaction enough. That night, after the kids were asleep and the Ed Sullivan TV show was over I got Elle to put the lavender panties on over the flowered ones. I remember her looking at herself in the mirror and sort of snickering because they were so sheer she could see the flowers right through the lavender pair. I also remember her making a comment along the lines that she couldn’t believe anyone would wear something that sheer. From somewhere in the nether part of my mind I got the idea to take a picture of her wearing them. I had to do some serious persuading to get her to say ”yes“. When she did she wouldn’t let me take anything more than the panties. I was very surprised that there was color film in the camera when it was developed which made me very happy. We then followed that up with some enjoyable ”private time“.

When Jay arrived at work on Monday he was in a very good mood. The source of his upbeat attitude was that the barrier island where we had worked together had the access restriction partially lifted. Homeowners and licensed contractors were now allowed. Jay’s father had been a licensed contractor and even though he hadn’t worked in years, the license was still valid. Jay had been on the island over the weekend and had been asked by a homeowner to clear the debris from his property. I’d been working with Jay for over six months and hadn’t seen him this excited in all that time. He asked if I wanted to go over to take a look at the area during lunch. Jo overheard us and asked if she could tag along. As I’ve mentioned, things between the two of them were getting warm so I wasn’t surprised when he said she could.

When we got to the bridge to the island all traffic headed East was allowed but to go West, like we wanted, proof had to be shown. The National Guard was long gone and access was being monitored by the county sheriff’s department. The guy on duty gave Jay a hard time even though Jay had the necessary papers. The problem was that he saw two guys with ties on and a nicely dressed female and in his mind it didn’t add up. Jay, in a nice way, told him that if there was a foul up in his next paycheck, not to be surprised. Of course it was ”tongue in cheek“ and he explained. Somewhat reluctantly, the guy waved us on. The first thing was saw was the beach club, or, what was left of it. All the buildings on the barrier island were ”stick built“ and constructed on poles called spiles that were pumped into the sand. I’d remembered the beach club as being like an enclosed compound, surrounded by dark green lattice. I’d never seen beyond the lattice but now what we saw was a series of damaged buildings. The road, which was made of asphalt, was almost completely covered with sand. Jay’s 4 wheel drive truck handled the sand easily. We saw any number of cars and small pick up trucks parked on the side of the road because they couldn’t handle the sand. It was about a mile to where the breach had occurred. None of the ocean front houses that we’d passed were without severe damage. The dunes upon which they had been built had been reduced by at least ten feet in height if not more. Sitting on the bare poles they really looked silly sitting so high up from the sand beneath them. The Army Corps of Engineers had been in charge of filling the breach by pumping in sand from both the bay and the ocean. It was easy to see where they had been working as they the area was probably ten feet below the now reduced sand dunes on each side of it.

The breach had been filled about two weeks prior but the Corps wouldn’t let anyone use it for access to the west end of the island until the sand had settled enough for them to put down these strips of metal used extensively during WWII when there was a beach landing so heavy tanks and equipment wouldn’t sink into the sand. Jay was one of the first to traverse it over the weekend. Because virtually no one had been at that end of the island the damage looked like it had just happened and not two months ago. The majority of the houses on the island were built on the ocean side with only a few on the North, or bay side, and it appeared they had held up fairly well. The big problem for them was that the debris from the damaged ocean side houses ended up being deposited on their property. The man that had approached Jay to clean up his property was one of the bay side homeowners. Jay drove us down to that house and it was somewhat shocking to see the debris that had been left. I couldn’t believe just how much junk had been jammed underneath the house, stopped by the poles that held it up. Pieces of stairs, handrails, porches, decks, doors, window frames and whole parts of roofs were all intertwined as if they were welded together. I asked Jay what his plan to ”attack“ the mess was and he just shrugged his shoulders and smiled. He followed that up with an offer for me to help him but I just shook my head. He did say that the owner was giving him access to the house but with no electricity or water I didn’t know what good that would do. I don’t think Jo ever opened her mouth to utter anything but Ooooo’s and Ahhhh’s as she viewed the extent of the damage. It was a quiet trip back to work.

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69h)

The store was decidedly different than the one I’d just left. It was much lighter and they had a series of fully dressed mannequins with different styles of women's wear. It was definitely not for the younger woman. But I was there for panties, not a dress or anything else. Two women about my mother’s age came towards me. I was a bit intimidated and it took a few seconds for me to stammer out that I was interested in the panties in the window. One of the women seemed rather nice but I felt the other was staring at me. The nice lady went and got a drawer with the numeral 5 on the front. She put it on the counter and right there on the top was a pair of lavender colored panties. When she started rooting through the drawer they fell out and onto the counter. They were so sheer that I could almost see through them. I imagined Elle wearing them and told the lady that I’d take them. She stopped looking for the fancy panties and I had to tell her I still wanted them. I know she had a smile on her face as she went back to looking in the drawer.

The other lady stood off to the side and continued to stare at me. It made me extremely uncomfortable and I began to think about leaving. After a minute the lady looking through the panty drawer looked up at me and shook her head negatively. It wasn't what I wanted to see but at least I had picked out the lavender ones for Elle. By then two women customers had walked into the store and they made me feel even more uncomfortable. Then the other lady spoke up and suggested that she look at the pair on display in the window. I watched as she climbed up to fetch the display and then walk past the two customers. She was holding the display with the panties still on it. I probably should've looked at the faces of the two women but I was too embarrassed. Once the display was placed on the counter the first lady proceeded to take the panties off it. I can only imagine what the two women customers were thinking as she did so. Actually, I was praying that they weren’t a size 5 so I could just get out of the store. At that point I was perspiring profusely. But, the panties were the right size. I don’t remember what the saleslady actually said but I know I wished she hadn’t said it so loudly. I told her I’d take them along with the lavender ones and when she told me the price I thought there was a mistake. It was over three dollars for just the two pair. I didn’t say anything because all I wanted to do by then was to get out of there. As I got to the door the saleslady who I’d felt had been staring at me stopped me and asked if I was related to a person who, thankfully, I didn’t know. Once outside I felt like I’d escaped from a torture chamber... but I did have the panties.

I still wanted to get something for Elle for mother’s day so I drove down to the one store that catered to all ages of females. It had been years since I’d last been in there and the first thing I checked out was to see if the lingerie department was still located in the same place as it had been. As I did I saw something that made me very happy. There was a display case with the Carter’s logo on it and with a full supply of panties in it. I walked up to it and made the discovery that they also made panties with leg elastics. Over the years I’d seen a lot of Carter’s Spanky Pants but they all had band legs. What was also interesting was they were all made from the soft combed cotton. All of Elle’s Spanky Pants were the heavy ribbed cotton. My eyes scanned the display and I saw pastels, prints and, of course, pure white. It only took a few seconds to find the flowered print ones I’d started out that day to find. All Carter’s panties were packaged in cellophane so I grabbed two pair of the blue flowered ones. The price was clearly marked on them.. 89 cents. I was beginning to wonder if I’d have enough money to buy something nice for Elle other than the panties.

Elle had hinted that she could use a light weight jacket to wear as the weather had become too warm for her winter coat when she took the kids for a walk around the park. She’d looked the last time we’d stopped at the church thrift shop and hadn’t seen anything she liked. I saw one I was sure she’d like but when I looked at the price I knew it was out of my price range. I’d pretty much avoided the sales ladies but one caught me with the coat in my hand. I told her it was too much money and she then looked at the price. She took the coat and walked away from me. It was strange but I waited and she returned a minute or so later to tell me that it was on sale and somehow the tag had not been changed. The sale price was still more than I’d wanted to spend but I did a quick calculation and if I didn’t buy gas for my car I could make it.

Of course I wanted to give Elle the panties right away but I waited until Sunday morning. I’d hidden the coat and taken the panties to my night stand drawer. When she got up to go to the bathroom just after daybreak the kids were still asleep. When she came back to bed I peeled her plastic panties off as well as her still dry cotton ones. I know she was puzzled because we’d gotten into the habit of some wet ”play“ before we got into the ”real stuff“. I reached over and pulled out the lavender panties and slipped them on her. These were the first non white panties she’d ever had and was quite surprised. When she saw how sheer they were and could see her ”bush“ she was really puzzled. I got the feeling she didn’t really approve so pulled out the flowered cotton ones. It only took a few seconds for her to recognize them as being the same as Ruthie had worn. Initially she accused me of keeping Ruthies. It was a good thing I had the second pair and that they were still in their package. Up to then it hadn’t been going the way I’d hoped so for the ultra fancy panties I just handed them to her. She liked them but said she wouldn’t dare wear them. I asked why and her response was that she’d ”ruin them“. I remember shaking my head and saying that I bought them for her to wear. All I got at that time was a ”We’ll see“ (8)

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69g)

Getting ready for work the next morning I opened the shower curtain to remove the ever present drying rack and there were Elle's "missing" panties. They were the only thing on the rack and I couldn’t imagine why they were there but I picked them up and looked right to the crotch. As I had feared the panties Elle had given Ruthie were quite stained but what was very interesting were the four or five little circles of dried pee. None were all that big with the biggest about the size of a quarter. The fact that there were that many was what interested me.

As I remember it the following week we had a spate of really nice weather. I was running the sorter which faced the window to the parking lot. At lunch time I noticed a couple of small groups walking across the lot and then across the four lane road. Right across from it was the river. A bit later I saw them all returning. It took a while for me to figure out that they were probably going over to the river bank to eat lunch. I suggested it to Jay and Jo and Jo jumped on it right away. Jay was the only one to buy his lunch and after he did we walked over to the river. We stopped at his truck to get a drop cloth to sit on. From the road to the river bank itself was probably 90 to 100 feet and all grass. It was about 15 feet down to the river with the banking at about a 30 degree angle to the water. It was all wild bushes and weeds but there were a few places where people had made sort of a path to the river edge. We put the cloth down on the grass at the top and sat down. I’d hoped to get a peek at Jo’s panties (of course) but she was very careful and I was denied. Jay was never one to stay put for very long and, true to his nature, he was up and walking about after eating. I saw him sort of disappear down the bank towards the river and decided to follow. Having relatively good clothes on we had to be careful not to get caught up in the brambles that lined the river bank. Once at the water Jay spied something of interest and went to try and retrieve it. There was nothing I could do to help him so headed back to the top. As my head popped above the ridge I saw Jo lying on her back with her knees angled up. I quietly climbed a little higher and got what I’d hoped for earlier, only better. Her feet were probably a foot apart and her skirt had slid up towards her lap. I had an absolutely perfect crotch view. (If only they had camera phones back then!) I stayed staring at this beautiful patch of white for maybe a minute before Jay came up behind me and said something. His voice woke Jo and she sat up and saw us both staring at her. She jumped up and with a half smile started chastising us for ”our dirty minds“. She was upset but not really mad. It wasn’t in her nature to get mad. Then she, semi seriously, asked just why men liked to see ladies in their underwear. Her question hit a ”hot button“ with me as Elle and I had a few discussions on the subject. I responded to her by saying I couldn’t understand why women got so upset in that situation when they, when wearing a bathing suit, still only had one layer of material covering their ”special places“. Jo’s answer was the same as Elle’s... ”It’s just different!“ Even though I hadn’t seen all that many bikini bathing suits in person I’d seen pictures. I felt the skimpy nature of those type suits was far more revealing than a ”panty peek“ and told her so. I remember her shaking her head from side to side in disagreement but with a big smile on her face. Typical Jo.

During that week Elle got a surprise visit from Judy. She had the baby with her but also brought back Elle’s maternity clothes. We hadn’t seen much of her since the baby was born and Elle felt badly that she hadn’t called. I was still helping Lance on his car deals and was amazed at how easy it was to make around $100 on the sale of an older car. It amazed me that a clean, polished junker could bring the prices that Lance was able to get. When Elle told me that Judy had been there it reminded me that Lance should have some money for me. Seeing his car parked in front of his trailer on Saturday I went down to see him. I’m sure he was eventually going to give it to me but I had use a little ”persuasion“ to get it.

I’d thought about trying to find the flowered panties that Ruthie had been wearing but with Sunday being Mother’s day I wanted to get something more for Elle. My first stop was at the store where Elle and I had bought her first Carter’s Spanky Pants. The store still looked the same... dark and old. It had been a while since I’d bought panties and I was feeling a bit awkward. I explained what I was looking for but the old lady said that the store was getting ready to go out of business and hadn’t ordered any new inventory in quite a while. I was very disappointed. But, as I said, I wanted to get something special for Elle. I’d actually parked in the hardware store parking lot down the street a ways. The store I wanted to go to was in the other direction so went back to my car. As I was walking I noticed a new store on the other side of the street was having a grand opening. I’d walked right past it and hadn't seen it but this time I stopped and read the sign... ”Fashion Plus for the mature woman". Another ladies dress store. I remember laughing to myself. One store closing and another opening to take it’s place.

As I walked across the street I saw a half mannequin in the window wearing a pair of panties. When I got to the window I saw the logo printed right above the waist elastic... Kayser. The panties were the most exquisite I’d ever seen. They were dainty and delicate and I knew I had to have them. The only question was would they have them in size 5.

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69f)

We decided to let the kids stay with Elle’s parents. Her mother was always asking when they could and this was a good time to do it. It meant that Elle and I could entertain Ruthie without interruption from the kids. We stopped to make sure it was OK for the kids to stay before heading to the trailer. It hadn’t been all that warm but I’d worked up a sweat and was looking forward to a shower. Elle, with her ”package“ fully soaked and smelling like smoke from the grill, was also looking forward to a shower. We were almost home when I remembered the mad dash the ladies had made to find a rest room so I asked Ruthie where they ended up. She laughed and said it was pretty funny. The bowling alley wasn’t open yet and the sole toilet at the first gas station they tried was stopped up and by then they were all in a panic. She said she really hadn’t had to go all that bad but with all the talk about needing to go had put the idea in her mind. She said they finally found a restaurant that was open and then it was a mad dash to get inside. They ended up using both the men and ladies toilets but that was all she said. I was a bit disappointed because I'd hoped to hear that at least one hadn't made it.

Once home Ruthie asked if it would be OK for her to shower as well. Her hair, as well as her clothes, all smelled of smoke. Elle insisted that Ruthie have the first chance at the shower. I was all for it. I was hoping Elle would be loaning her some clothes and I wanted to be sure I was back in the bedroom to see just what panties she picked out for her. I’ve mentioned before that Ruthie was almost a ”clone“ of Elle only with dark hair. Their personalities were basically the same and they were close to having the same build. Elle was a little better ”endowed“ but, all in all, very similar so I was also curious to see the other clothes Elle picked out for her

We had found a source of nice quality of used clothes in a thrift shop run by a local church. When I’d started with the County I only had one suit and at that time couldn’t afford to buy anything new. We also found it to be a good source of children’s clothes. Then, when Elle started getting calls to teach, she found herself having to wear basically the same clothes each day. So, it was back to the thrift shop. The female mind works in a different way than a man. Elle went looking for something ”good“ for Ruthie to wear. I was thinking that all she needed was something that was clean; not fancy. But Elle finally picked out a pair of light gray wool slacks and a light blue pull-over sweater. I’m sure Elle hadn’t yet worn either and remember wanting to say something to Elle about it but didn’t. The big question for me was what panties she was going to give her.

After all the careful decision making as to the pants and sweater all she did was to reach in her panty drawer and pull out the first cotton panties she reached. I couldn’t believe it. All her cotton panties were well stained. Even I would’ve looked for a pair of unstained ones. In any case she folded all the clothes and took them into the bathroom. All I could do then was to wait for my turn.

When Ruthie finished she went on down to hall to the kitchen where Elle was preparing supper. I quickly made my way into the bathroom and there, right on top of the washing machine were Ruthies clothes all folded and neatly stacked. Her panties were right on top and I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed. They were like the ones of hers that I’d seen during the Summer but that didn’t stop me from picking them up to inspect them. They were blue flowered Carter’s Spanky Pants, band legged and sized small. They were the soft combed cotton and not like the heavier ribbed cotton type that Elle wore. I remembered that I was going to see if I could find some flowered panties for Elle but hadn’t. I checked out the crotch and gave it a little sniff. It was hard to tell if she’d peed any in them as the print pretty much blocked it out but my nose indicated that there might be a little. I was standing there holding her panties with a big bulge in my pants when I heard Elle call me while walking down the hall. I stuffed the panties under her jeans and made like I was starting to run the water so Elle couldn’t see the bulge as she walked in. All she wanted was to tell me to put my clothes in the washer and as she did she dumped Ruthies in. When she closed the door I let out a big sigh of relief.

Because it was dark I got the job of hanging the wet clothes on the line. The one good thing was that I could hold Ruthie’s panties legitimately. As I hung Elle’s two pair on the line I remember shaking my head about Elle giving Ruthie a pair of these old, stained panties to wear. I'd hoped that she would've given her a pair of her fancy panties. Women! Sheesh!

By early Sunday afternoon the clothes had almost dried. The only thing was Ruthie’s jeans which were still a little damp in the crotch area. Elle remembered a couple of times when I was still racing the horses where my driving jacket hadn’t quite dried. She hung it on the back of a chair and placed it in front of the open oven door. We reprised that tactic and by the time it was time to go for the train they were dry enough to wear. I had no hopes of seeing any panty peeks so wasn’t prepared as Ruthie came down the hall holding Elle’s gray pants in front of her. There was no way for her to completely hide her panties and as she walked past me (sitting in a chair) I got a good look at her backside. Panties look much better when on and they looked good on her. I fully expected that Elle was going to call me out later on my ”leering“, as she called it whenever I looked a another female’s butt, but she never said a word.

After leaving her at the train we went to fetch the kids. In the back of my mind, all the way there and back, was getting a look at Elle’s panties that Ruthie had been wearing. There were two thing I wanted to check out... how stained were they and if Ruthie had leaked. After we were home and Elle was putting the kids to bed I went looking in the washing machine for the panties but couldn’t find them. I was puzzled, for sure. I remember laying bed wondering about them.

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69e)

Elle was pleased with the new washline as well. Even though it was very noticeable from the street she had no qualms about that. However, she made a point of making me finish up the fence as soon as possible as she was reluctant to turn the kids loose in the yard without it. I was “rewarded” for my efforts that night. After she finished putting the kids to bed she came out into the living room wearing the same filmy robe that my mother had given her. It was a “signal“ that she was interested. To make it complete she came over and sat on my lap. It only took a few seconds for me to feel that she was wet. That was the confirmation of what was being offered and I gladly took the invitation.

The one negative thing that was hanging over me at that time was the knowledge of the damage done to the sailing club in the March NorEaster. Rex and I were the only two members of the club that lived locally which put the burden on us to be the caretakers. On the minor problems Rex had been able to take care of them. However, this storm had wreaked havoc on the site. All three sets of stairs had been washed away and had to be completely rebuilt. Rex (and I) were unwilling to tackle the job alone. He was able to get a group of the members to volunteer to get started on the repairs the first weekend in May. As all of them lived in or just outside of the city in the Winter and their Summer homes had not yet been readied for use for the Summer it meant we couldn’t really get started until they arrived. Rex had set 10am as a start time and we figured it would probably be closer to 11am. Thinking ahead, Rex had gotten the wood and had pre-cut it at his house since there was no electric power at the clubhouse. The two of us brought most of it to the site while waiting for the others to arrive. As there were going to be some women there Rex had also brought his charcoal grill and some hot dogs and hamburgers for them to cook for lunch.

I was disappointed that Buddy and Carol weren’t going to be there. Even without Carol, Elle had decided to be a part of the project. She had dropped me off and then taken the kids over to her mother. I’d fully warned her that there was no plumbing available and told her to not only wear a ”package“ but to bring plenty of supplies. I’d hoped that Buddy would be there as we could’ve used his parents house for bathroom needs. I didn’t realize just how critical this was going to be but with the first car to arrive it was pretty obvious.

A number of the members had agreed to double up and travel together. The first car had two semi desperate ladies aboard. The whole car load was shocked to see the amount of damage but the ladies made quick note of the fact that there were no stairs to get into the clubhouse. It wouldn’t have made any difference as there was no electricity to run the water pump, no sewer pipe (it had been washed away like the stairs) and the septic tank was filled with sand and sea water. One of them saw the tall reeds growing right behind the clubhouse and grabbed the hand of the other and started running towards them. I remember smiling because I knew there was a small creek before the reeds and I thought this situation was going to be really interesting. When they reached the creek they stopped and looked back and ordered us not to watch. If their husbands hadn’t been there I would’ve disregarded their plea but I did watch them start to pull their pants down though.

By the time they rejoined us two more cars had arrived. But Rex had noticed that there was a man on the bluff right above the clubhouse and he had a pair of binoculars. When he pointed him out to the women who had just relieved themselves they both let out a little scream. They immediately went to the new arrivals telling them about their problem and pointed up to the bluff. As they exited the cars I noted that Ruthie (of Jimbo and Ruthie) was there without Jimbo. I went over to say hello and to tell her that Elle would be there soon. While I was doing that the others were trying to figure out where the nearest public restroom was located. Someone suggested the bowling alley and the three ladies who’d just arrived took off.

It was close to 11am and Rex was anxious to get started. He assessed the skill level of the men and set us up in teams. The goal was to get two sets of stairs built and in place by the end of the day. None of them were planning on staying over and voiced a desire to be on their way before dark. When Elle finally arrived Ruthie and the other ladies hadn’t returned. She really didn’t like the two women who were there so she came over to where I was. I looked over to where they were and I could see them looking towards Elle and sort of giggling. I wanted to go over and smack them.

When the car with the other three women arrived all three went over to see how they’d made out. I was curious too but there was no reasonable way I could. The rest of us continued to work. The pre cutting of the wood that Rex had done made the job relatively simple. When the women came over to see what they could do Rex suggested that they go ”beachcombing“ and to try and find the missing shutters from the clubhouse.

We stopped to eat in the early afternoon. By then we had one set of stairs in place and Rex suggested that the women try to clean up some of the mess inside. They all groaned as the weather was relatively warm and they wanted to sit in the sun. The second set was put in place by mid afternoon and Rex was mad at himself for not getting enough wood for the third set of stairs. The ladies had located a couple of the missing shutters so we put them back up as well as replacing some of the broken windows. It was around 4pm when the first car pulled away. As it was leaving Elle approached me to ask if Ruthie could stay the night with us. The two of them had become friends the previous Summer and had been writing each other over the Winter. Jimbo was away on a business trip and there was no one at home. If she did stay over she would take the afternoon train the next day. I certainly had no problem with it as I liked her as well.

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69d)

After getting Elle righted I suggested that she take a break. I flipped the seat back to upright more to hide my discovery than anything else. I did notice that Elle had made some positive progress on the seat and that the original color was now coming back. From a practical side that was good but I wanted her to take a break so I could check under the seat for what I hoped was a pair of panties.

I made sure Elle was occupied before I stuck my hand up into the springs. It took a good tug to get them to release. The soft nylon felt good in my hand as I pulled it out. I went behind the seat and opened them up. The most obvious thing I saw was that there were four short tabs hanging from the leg elastics with two on the front and two on the back. That was a “first“ for me. I immediately opened them up to find the label and in clear blue letters was ”Suspants“ by Blue Swan. I’d heard of Blue Swan and had actually bought Elle some of their panties before we were married. But the tabs puzzled me as did the name ”Suspants“. The next part of my investigation took me to the crotch. It was obvious that the panties had pee stains but were quite small. What was very interesting was that when looking at the inside of the crotch it looked like dried cum. Just the thought of my cousin having sex in her car was cause for an immediate bulge as well as a big smile on my face. Little ”Miss Perfect” wasn't so perfect after all. (The mystery of the tabs was solved on a visit to my parents where I looked at a magazine my mother had and I saw an ad for them. The idea was that if a woman wanted to wear stockings and wore Suspants, she wouldn’t need a garter belt as the garters were attached to the panty.)

I was anxious for the first of May in that it meant I’d been working at the County Center for six months and was now eligible for health insurance. Elle and I had been incredibly lucky in that neither of us had experienced any serious health problems (not counting Elle’s incontinence) nor had the kids. In spite of the cost just having it took a lot of worry off my mind. It would also mean the start of some decent Spring weather. The playhouse business had dried up but the positive to that was I'd have some time to start to fix up our yard. The first item on the list was to build the fence around it.

I was bound and determined to get the black Chevy finished up first. I ended up spending more than I'd planned as I bought a much better grade of tires as well as adding another exhaust making for a dual exhaust car. But if you had "duals" you also had to have glass pack mufflers, which also added to the cost. Elle's work on the seats and a coat of wax on the body made for a really "hot" looking car.

Lucy was doing really well at work. As I'd expected, she was having a little trouble assimilating the "casual" way Jay ran the department. She was used to the corporate way, having come right from the main office of Remington Rand where everything was on a strict schedule. We tended to take breaks when they fit in with what we were doing, and that included lunch. She declined to join us on most days which made it a little difficult to get to know her. I know I enjoyed her tight fitting skirts. I especially remember one which fit so tight that I got a VPL of her crotch line without her bending over. Almost every time she got up from her machine my eyes would follow her (butt) and I was embarrassed when Jo called me out on it one time.

When I started working on the fence I deliberately left the side for a time when the neighbors had wash on their clothes line. Everybody in the park used a collapsible one because the yards weren’t all that big. Elle hated ours because the clothes ended up being hung too close together for them to dry properly. On the day I was working on the side fence, Molly, the mother, came out to take some of the clothes down. I couldn’t see her face but I could hear her muttering and called over to her asking if there was anything wrong. She ducked out from behind the clothes and, with a look of disgust on her face, proceeded to tell me all that was wrong with that type of clothes line. Then she pointed to the back of her yard as well as mine and said there was no reason why we shouldn’t be allowed to put up a straight clothes line across the back since there was plenty of space. As I listened I had to agree. I don’t know what I said to her but I remember leaving and driving up to the office. My luck was still holding in that it was Dick who was there. I asked if there was any rule that would prevent me from putting up a T-pole clothes line across the back of my lot. He hesitated at first but then, remembering that my pad was a perimeter one and had no one living behind me, said that I could. I went back and told Molly about my discovery. Even though I’d started working on the fence I immediately wanted to go get the wood to make the new washline. Molly’s husband was in Texas on company business so I asked if she wanted me to get the wood to make one for them. I remember the pleased look on her face when I did.

I was gone for less than an hour and also bought a couple of hanks of clothes line. I’m not really sure why I decided to build the one for the neighbor first. When she said she wanted much of it behind her trailer because she didn't want anyone to see her "unmentionables" I had to hide a smile. I decided to put the pole right on the line between our two lots so that I could meet her wish to hide the washline as much as possible but also so the two of us could share the one pole. The dimensions for these new lots were not only deeper but were five feet wider than the original lots. I had her come out to tell me where she wanted the other pole placed. As it only took a short time to erect the whole thing she immediately started taking clothes off her old one and transferring them to the new one. She was very appreciative and I stayed and chatted for a few minutes. I was rewarded as she got into the clothes had been in the center of the fold up one. Panties! I was surprised especially after her telling me her reason for wanting it behind the trailer as much as possible. Granted, most belonged to her and her heavy set daughter. But the real “plum” was seeing her transfer the smaller panties that obviously belonged to Janelle, her older daughter. I don’t remember the actual number but I was positive that, on a percentage basis, there were more for her than for her mother and sister. It was an intriguing thought for me to ponder.

To be continued...

GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69c)

That next weekend was the one Jay and I had designated for switching motors in the Chevys. I went over to his house to pick him up so we could drive the two cars back. By the time we had both cars in Jay’s yard it was mid morning. One of Jay’s cousins stopped by and he was a big help. By lunchtime we had one car ready to have the motor pulled. Jay sent his cousin to go buy some sandwiches for us to eat which puzzled me. He lived right there and I sort of expected that his wife would feed us. Elle had made sandwiches for us on some of the weekends we’d worked at the County Center and it seemed reasonable to expect the same from Jay’s wife. The next thing that surprised me was that when Jay had to relieve himself he just walked back into the woods and not into the house. However, I didn’t say anything.

By the time it got dark we had both motors out and had the ”good“ motor in the black car. We still had to hook up the wires, put the radiator in and connect the exhaust. I was willing to keep going as long as Jay was willing. Then I heard a very loud and shrill ”Jaaaaaayyyyyyy!". Jay was under the car and I heard him swear. Another “Jaaaaayyyyyyy! and he came sliding out and headed for his door. His cousin and I kept working but I heard his cousin mutter something that sounded like ”Beach!“. He was originally from the Ukraine and had been in the country for about ten years so he still had a bit of an accent. What he actaully said was"Bitch!". Jay was gone for about 15 minutes and I could see that he was upset when he returned. I knew him well enough to keep my mouth shut. It took about an hour before we could start the engine and shortly thereafter I headed home.

It was the longest trip I’d made in the car since picking it up and it was very obvious that it needed shock absorbers. I felt like I was out at sea in a small boat the way the car seemed to just sway and bounce while riding down the road. I had asked Jay what time I should come back on Sunday and he never gave me a time. I decided to do my regular Sunday duty and to take my grandfather to the hospital. It turned out to be the right thing to do. I’d had time to learn more about the trust fund that he’d given me. It was made up of stocks and they paid dividends. That's where the cash came from. I’d studied about the stock market while in college but had never given a thought to ever being in a position to own stocks. While talking with him that Sunday I asked if he would teach me about the market. I honestly think that there was nothing I could’ve done or said that would’ve meant more to him than that. I only wished that I could’ve stayed that day to start my ”lessons“.

Back at Jay’s, he and his cousin had the other motor about ready to go in the blue Chevy. He didn’t have much to say and I didn’t push him. It was about dark when we fired the engine up. I asked if he’d drive one of my cars back and he said ”no”. I was a bit surprised but, again, didn’t say anything. He told me he’d bring it to work the next day and have Jo give him a ride home. Now, as I’ve hinted at, it was becoming more clear that there were some definite “sparks” between the two of them. It was on my way home that the thought came to me that relationship between Jay and his wife wasn’t going all that well. I’d thought it somewhat strange that Jay never talked about her or his daughter. In the parts of the two days I spent there I never saw either one and yet I knew that his wife was there. I just wished I knew more about the situation.

The first thing I wanted to do was to get the blue Chevy ready to sell. I recruited Lance to help me do a tune up on the motor I'd put in it from the black Chevy. When he saw it he told me to get it powerwashed before doing anything else. He said anyone lifting the hood and looking at the motor would walk away after seeing all that farm dirt on it. Once that was done he told me that he’d take it out to the air base and should get it sold in just a few days. I fully expected him to ask for a percentage and we worked it out so that I would forgive the last money he owed on my old trailer. Ironically, the day he got a buyer for me was the day Judy gave birth to their son. He was at the air base and the buyer had just given him the money when he got word that Judy had been taken to the hospital. It was three days later before I saw my money.

In hindsight I probably should’ve gotten more than $450 but having the cash to buy what I needed for the black car was more important. I’d been driving it to and from work and was somewhat ashamed to be seen in it. The seats were brown from worn in farm dust and the floor had at least a half inch of dirt on it. I could’ve planted flowers in the trunk for all the farm dirt I found in there. I decided to strip all the seats and carpeting out of the car and to just use a hose to wash the dirt away. I got the front seat unbolted and asked Elle to help me drag it out from inside the car. With difficulty, we got it out and off to the side. She asked if there was anything else she could do to help and I told her to start in on washing the seats. I worked on getting the back seats out which was much easier. Once the carpets were out I took the hose to the floor and watched the pavement under the car turn farm lot brown. Elle, who’d been sitting on the front seat as she worked forgot that it wasn’t fastened down. She turned to take a look and as she did she leaned back and I watched as the seat, with Elle on it, flipped over, her feet straight up in the air. But, what I also saw was something white jammed up into the seat springs. I came over to help Elle get up and as I got to the seat I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. I was positive that the “white” was a pair of panties.

To be continued...