My bummin’ slummin’ friends have all got new boots… Ok, maybe not, but I got a new pair of boots.
I couldn’t find my old winter boots last week (I haven’t worn them since last year) and was convinced Dana threw them out. She threatened to do so last year, because honestly, they suck. I’m pretty sure I got them from the trash, and they might be 30 years old by now. (She didn’t actually get rid of them, she just hid them so I’d be forced to buy new ones, which is what you have to do when dealing with me.)
Anyway, I went to look for boots. Now, keep in mind, I have not been winter boot shopping since my Mom took me some time in the 1970s, so I had no idea what to expect. When I was a kid, boots were huge, unwieldy monsters you strapped onto your feet which made it difficult to walk, but kept your feet warm. No so today…
I asked the guy at the store where the big winter boots were, the ones with a 1/2 inch of black insulated liners. He said that unless I was going ice fishing all day long, I didn’t need those, and besides, almost no one makes or sells those anymore.
On the left, the “curbside specials” I’ve been using for, oh, I dunno, possibly 20 years… And on the right, a pair of North Face Chilkats. These things are amazing. They are so light and comfortable, it just seems wrong. I’m too used to barely being able to walk, let alone run with boots on. They were less than $70 on sale, and I figure they should last at least 10 years, so I’m all set for now with boots. (Unless there is some amazing new breakthrough in boot technology I just have to have, like, you know, if Apple, Inc. starts making iBoots or something.)