are you ready boots? start walkin'....

I’ve got a favourite pair of work shoes. I’ve had them since 2004 and worn them almost every day that I’ve been in the office since. I suppose they’re probably a bit like Trigger’s broom: they’ve been resoled and re-heeled so many times that I’m not sure that all that much of the original shoe actually remains. I’ve worn them so much that there are parts where the dye has completely gone and they have what looks like permanent scuffs that can only partially be covered with shoe polish. In addition to that, the inside behind the heel on each shoe has almost completely worn through. I’m reluctantly coming to the conclusion that they might be a bit scruffy to wear to work and might need retiring and replacing.

That makes me irrationally sad…. I can still buy a more or less identical pair after all…. But these are the magic shoes that I used to wear when we couldn’t find the cat when she was very small. I’m very hard-wearing on the heels of my shoes, so I tend to have steel quarters put in to make them last a bit longer. The cat learned to recognise the “clippety-clop” noise that these shoes made as I walked down the street, and she used to come out to meet me, wherever she had wandered off to. To her, it’s the sound of me coming home (and her tea about to be served).

She still comes running now. It’s very sweet.

Mind you, she recognises the sound of my car engine too, and was very confused – and more than a little put out, I think - the other day when she dashed out of the house to greet us, only to find someone else parking a mini in our street and not me.

I’m pretty sure that she’ll get used to another, identical pair of shoes right enough… and we’re in London this weekend, so I’ll be able to pop to RM Williams to put in an order….but you know, I’m kind of attached to these ones.