It’s been raining here off and on for several days reminding me of the back to back snowstorms we had this winter. Unfortunately the heavy rain isn’t followed by cooler temperatures but rather continued humidity. I guess we are benefiting from weather coming up from the southeast United States. It reminds me why I have never wanted to live in the southeast United States!

I began to think about boots from my childhood and youth. My shoes were leather, not vinyl or “man-made materials” in those days, and it behooved me to keep them dry. As a child I wore the type of boot on the left which were pulled on over shoes. They were the bane of my young years. I could never successfully pull them off without pulling my shoes with them. And, at least in kindergarten, this meant asking the teacher to help me retie them since shoe tying and I had yet to achieve a happy connection.

In high school I wore leather pumps and I needed to keep them dry using the kind of clear boots found in the right hand picture. These went on over my shoes, keeping them dry. Unfortunately they had the sex appeal of a rutabaga. I had to sacrifice allure for practicality(a seeming theme of my life) since I didn’t have the money to replace my pumps.

Today I just dry off my feet when I venture out in my sandals in a summer downpour. Many people seem to spend the summer in flip flops, another excellent solution. Those clear boots seem to have disappeared from the scene. I can’t say that I am sorry.