Hi again, folks. Well, this past Saturday afternoon, I bought the first pair of new footwear I’ve purchased in an embarrassingly long time. It’s one thing to be committed to a green, recyclable, buy used first, renewable-resource lifestyle but I suspect that even that can be overdone. I’ve also noticed something about fanatics which makes me not want to be one. They don’t seem to have much of a sense of humour, do they?
To me, then, though this is hardly a majour financial event in my life, it has been cause for some additional reflection. (I’ve been considering new sandals for about three months now.) Like the so many of those who live and work in the Puget Sound, “Birkenstocks,” per se, are the footwear of choice.
Money’s been a bit tight over the last several years so I haven’t had the option of a resole. Apparently, now that times are better, it’s too late for that. As a good friend remarked recently,
“Rusty, if you love those shoes at all, you’ll let them die with dignity and give them a decent wake.”
The same friend told me about an easy shoe store two blocks from where I live and bet me I could buy a new pair for under $50, bag a jar of instant coffee and meet them back at the house in a half hour.
Turns out they were wrong. It only took me 25 minutes.
And I wore the new purchase home. With the old friends and loyal companions wrapped in tissue in the box the successors came in. At sunrise tomorrow, I’m going down to the Ship Canal and put the box in the water to let the current carry it away. I like the idea that by the time these sandals reach the Puget Sound, they’ll be on their way to providing miniature reefs for new colonies of marine life.
These new ones were a little stiff so I remembered what my (infamous) Grandpa Seamus did with new saddles, harnesses, belts and other leather goods we used on the ranch. I applied a thin coat of Vaseline to the contact points and set them on the front desk to warm up in the sun. Then I worked those contact points and the straps with my fingers until they softened up even more. Then, after donning a pair of wool sox, I put them on and walked a mile or two. Welcome to my world, new friends.
I remember how Seamus smelled when he came in from a session in the tack room. It was a richly aromatic blend of leather, Vaseline, denim and perspiration. I was gone many years from the ranch when I came across something which came close to that blend. It was a line of men’s cologne and aftershave called “English Leather.” I was a teenager back then so there’s an additional host of recollections these new sandals evoke.
So yep, to paraphrase a popular commercial I really like, the shoes only cost $42.35. The memories, of course, are priceless.
Until next time, then, take care, stay well and God Bless.
Rusty
No comments:
Post a Comment