Details I would not know if I didn’t go to coffee on Friday.

Tilly related that one night last week, in the middle of the dark night, the city sirens went off, loudly and shrilly. She awoke with a start ... probably yet half-asleep, and thought, “This has to be a tornado. The sirens never sound except during tornados and it’s night! No one can see them coming. She immediately woke up Duke. “Duke, wake up. We have to go to the basement. The sirens are on, and there’s a tornado coming.” He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and replied, “Tilly. It’s New Year’s Eve. Those are the sirens for the New Year!”

This is true. Tilly is a character.

Sally Blutz, you might remember, was a school teacher for years and wears cute little hats all the time. She rued that her hair is thinning out, and she thinks it might be the hats. Well, makes sense to me. Her hair is suffocating from no oxygen, maybe? Her motive must be to cover up her hair. She tries to fix her hair before going out, but her hubby, says, “C’mon. Let’s go. Forget the hair.” Anyway, she made one resolution this New Year. Only one. And she has already broken it, she says. “I decided I would style my hair the first thing every day.” Good resolution Sally. “It lasted three days. The first two, I fixed my hair, and on the third day, I turned my curling on!” 

No one wears hose anymore. Remember panty hose? Greta still wears them on occasion.

“Why, Greta?” we asked. She says, “My bare legs look better.” By the way, we agree that if one is wearing a pretty dress, why not finish dressing the bod. White, bare legs are unattractive. She says she struggles getting them on. For those of you who don’t remember panty hose, getting into them takes physical strength and conditioning. It’s rather like a magician fitting into a small box. We recalled how outdated undergear is. Girdles, panty hose, garter belts, half slips ...

Prudence jumped in on that one. Half slips. Prudence was a grade school teacher. She wore skirts or dresses most days. One morning while leading her younger elementary students down the hall to go to something or other, her half-slip gave away and slid down to her ankles. Without missing a step, Prudence stepped out of the slip and just kept on leading her class.

“Oh yes,” replied Tilly. “I remember the panty hose crotch slipping down almost to above your knees, and needing to go to the restroom and jerk them back up!”

I once asked Tilly seriously, now, “What can one do with panty hose that roll off the hips and start working down when one is in public?” She answered. “I will tell you. Take them off, bundle them in a wad, and throw them in the waste can.”  That was  not what I was expecting!

Actually, I never know what to expect with this group. Have a great week!   

Judi Tabler lives in Pawnee County and is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune. She can be reached at juditabler@gmail.com.