If it was me, and I can personally verify that it is, I'd click on that video and start the song before you get going too far. It'll help set the tone.
Maybe.
When I was writing my last post(s) about our resort'n trip to Costa Rica last year, I mentioned the fact I brought two pairs of deck shoes with me. And that got me to thinking, just how many pairs of shoes do I now own?
I used to own just one pair, maybe two. Or three. I remember buying a pair of those heavy duty Vasque hiking boots in my early 20's. They were all the rage, and they really helped get your legs in shape because each boot weighed about ten pounds.
They actually lasted until we moved here, some thirty-five years later. I wore them out working on this here hill, and now I go through two to three pairs of work shoes/boots around here every year.
How many pairs of shoes do I now own? It's almost embarrassing, really. But being married to my lovely wife, who's headstone will read, "She was always appropriately dressed", it's kind of important I keep up appearances. And being appropriately dressed has kinda rubbed off on me too.
If you've been a reader of past posts, you know I have a thing about sandals and cargo shorts being worn at a nice restaurant or an opera. I mean, if you don't own a pair of pants and a pair of shoes why not just go to a deli? And wouldn't you feel more comfortable at a Jimmy Buffet show rather than Bocelli in your shorts and sandals?
Or are you really that much of a rebel buffoon to not really care?
Besides, it's kinda fun getting dressed up every once in a while. Plus you're more likely to get lucky if you're wearing a nice shirt and slacks instead of cargo shorts and sandals.
If you don't believe me, just click on that video.
There was a time, long long ago now that Dear Old Dad and step-mom took a trip to Australia with another couple. The other dude, a real estate guy and really, a lovely gentleman, brought a suitcase full of shoes. I thought that astounding. There was no question his feet were dressed for success.
I know I'm not that bad. I usually travel with two or three pairs, depending on where we're going and what we're doing. And they definitely don't take up enough space to warrant an entire suitcase, unless it's about the size of a toilet kit.
But I do own a few pair, like about twenty, and here they are...
They're not really shoes I wear these days. As a matter of fact, as you can see, they now adorn our garage wall. Yes, I hung up my cleats a couple years ago.
I also decided it might be too late in my aging career to play competitively anymore. Not that I couldn't (in my mind anyway). I'm more than a little concerned about simply starting and stopping. I'm certain within the first inning of play that I'd pull or tear something or other and then I'd be limping or have an arm in a sling for a month or more.
Circling back to the main shoe photo, take a good look and memorize what you see. That way if we're ever in a crowded anywhere and you can't see above the shoulders of the people around you, you can look down and still find me. That is, if we're ever traveling together in a crowded space.
Believe it or not, I actually wear all of them. The only ones I haven't strapped on recently are the boots way up yonder in the right corner. They're about a seven year old still sturdy pair of steel toed toughness. Unfortunately they don't offer the space and comfort necessary now for my plantar fasciitis.
We live in the country, so some of the stuff up there is necessary. Snow boots, rain boots, work boots/shoes, hiking boots/shoes and a pair of flip flops or crocs by every exterior door.
Annd whoops. Just forgot.
We generally don't do shoes in the house, again, we live in the country. We try to keep most of the country in the country and not on the floor of the house. And as I sit here writing with the keyboard on my lap and my feet on the desk, I notice that I'm wearing one of two pair of indoor slippers that I also own. So I guess I'm actually at twenty-two.
Or is a slipper not considered a shoe?
Many times you have to run outside quick like when you live in the country, so a pair of something, like crocs or flip-flops, at every door is a MUST!
I also own two pairs of Merrill back strap sandals. One pair is for summer work, the other for summer vacation. Of course, my now famous two pairs of deck shoes are also there, as are two pair (black and brown of course) of casual shoes and two pair of dress shoes.
I think that covers my shoe situation. I also own a decent pair of tennis shoes for golfing, which I can now do once again. (See: Please Pass the Dextrose)
I still only golf a half dozen times a year, but I certainly can't wear dress shoes, baseball cleats or snow boots with cargo shorts on the course in July, can I?
