Shoes

My shoes are like the hats some people wear, each has it's own story and purpose; each has or had glory and defeat; each has known rigor in it's day and each has known leisure.
I'll start at the right.  This is my current work shoe, casual I know but just enough style and comfort to do my job with honor and dignity. That is how I conduct my life every day to my family, my fellow employees and also my customers.
Next is my flip-flop. I live in a beach town that is boasted to be one of the beast beaches in all the US. Yes they are well used and well loved by me, the beach is the place to unwind and drink a good cold one, or two.
The third one is my current cycling shoe. what a great shoe it is but it was only two years ago I threw away my first pair of cleats that I had bought in 1983, they were Victoria jrs, I think. The jrs fit so tight  the first 3 or 4 weeks, before they stretchered out, that I thought my feet would forever be asleep when I rode. They never wore out in the 5 years of hard riding. My new ones, garneau er-go-air, are good but only a few years will tell the tale. They take me where I can dream to go.
Ah my running shoes, lots of miles on these but my knees won't take the pounding any more, I still love to run. There was not the pleasure on the tread mill as on turf, pavement or beach so I stopped and enjoy the pleasure  ( a guilty one) of the road now and again. By doing whats right for myself I have lengthened my bodies ability to be mobile for years to come.
Those funny looking high-tops with the red laces are my rock climbing shoes from 1979 and their named "EB'S", I could never bare to part with them. The personal growth I had in these is with out question the beginning of my awakening as an adult. I learned to free climb on the basic practice rock in Berkeley that had a little bit of all the levels one needed to go and do big faces. Try it you'll like it is all I gotta say. Read "looking down" for more on this.
Hiking boots, self explanatory and thank G-D for the great northern California, Yosemite and the John Muir trail. For those of you who have not had the pleasure you are missing out. My teen years were brought to  fruition hiking, backpacking and general misbehaving in the out doors as well as other places not specified.
The big orange and green boots are just exactly what you think they are, hunting boots. I haven't gotten so much as a Nat in 4 yrs but I have enjoyed sitting in a forested area just before dawn and watching the sunrise and the earth wake up.  I love the taste of Venison no matter how it's prepared and I know lots of ways to cook it, but that's another story.
The last pair is a muck boot. I have worked on a farm, in a slaughter house, as a janitor, a cook, a chef, a restaurant manager and lots more. But all in all the many shoes I've worn cannot all be covered here nor would it be very interesting.
Each shoe tells a story about it's owner and some people have one or two kinds of shoes while others have many different kinds for varied and specific tasks. I  had the opportunity to try more shoes than I care to but the end product is I love my life and have been fortunate to do so many things that require different  shoes. As I said earlier, some people like hats and as the saying goes, walk a mile in my shoes not my hat.
If I see you on the road stop at Peets, because your buying.