If the Shoes Fit....

I had to buy new shoes.  That's where it all began.  My trusty crusty work boots had given out on me after nearly a year of hard service. 

Not long enough, in my opinion, but they'd trod their last mile. The tops were cracking, the bottoms worn down, and a tear had developed on one side.

And yes, I had cared for them.  They were tools, and important ones at that, so I cleaned them, waxed them, protected them.  To no avail.  They were doner than done.

I was shoe shopping.  And not just for any shoes; companion shoes that I could rely in in rain, snow, wind, water, mud, manure, grass and thicket.  Alot to ask of anything, really.  I work hard and expect my shoes to do the same.  But have you ever had to look for women's workboots?  You'd think women never work!  News flash to me.  I could go anywhere and to any website, type in workboots and get hundreds of hits.  Add the specifier of "women's", though, and there were suddenly 10 or 6 or 30, but 25 of them had high heels that no sane woman who actually works would do work in.  What a frustrating hunt.  Not to mention the money involved!  Ugh.  Good tools are expensive, I know, but wow.  Some of the prices were completely insane.

After a few days and too many hours, I finally settled.  Meet the new members of the team.

Twisted X steel-toed workboots.  The damn things weigh two pounds each, if they weigh an ounce.  They are rubber soled, nicely treaded and well sewn.  I'm still breaking them in, but so far, so good.  They fit nicely and will hopefully do the job for longer than their predecessors.

But it got me thinking.  Did you ever look at your life in terms of shoes?  Bear with me here:  if I were to look back at my life so far, I could tell you the stages by the shoes I've worn.  In high school and college it was whatever was "cool".  I don't know if I was much of a fad follower, but I know it was form before function.  During my office worker period, it was sensible shoes that were nice looking, but sturdy.  This was probably the time in my life that I owned the most shoes I have ever owned.  I worked in NYC and walked a lot, plus stood on my feet a lot of the day.  As a stay at home mom, I wore socks most of the time, and sneakers when I had to go out.  During my gym rat phase, good sneakers were the most important.  And now, it's workboots.  I love the workboot phase.  I hope I never leave it.  

Well, ok, enough pondering.  I have garlic to plant.  I hope you all enjoy your fall day.  Go on out there and get those boots dirty!