They say you can tell a lot about someone by looking at their shoes. The shoes I wear certainly say a lot about me.

The shoes I wear are good quality, not inexpensive. Good quality shoes help support my back which needs all the help it can get. I buy shoes often, but not because I collect footware. Generally I have two pairs on the go and another pair or two stashed on standby. One pair of the shoes in use are new and saved for special occasions. But no matter how careful I am it doesn't take long for them to get skufffed and a little worn. My excuse is that I have split vision, which means I have no depth perception. Uneven ground, plus my rapid pace of walking cause me to stumble a lot. That is hard on shoes. It isn't long until they simply won't polish up enough to be presentable. It is time to make them work shoes.

As work shoes they are in for a hard life. It is just over 300 feet between the shop and house and that is a trip made many times each day, often at a run. The miles quickly add up. The shop has many hazards. Sparks from welding, dust, dirt, concrete and a thousand other things all hack away at the the smooth leather finish. It isn't long until the shoes I sport are paint spattered, cracked and well worn. The laces tend to show their age first. In a short while the toes begin to wear through and the stitching in the seams begins to fail. Before much times goes by they are falling apart so badly it is time to retire them.

Today I'll fetch a new pair from the closet to wear as my dress shoes. My 'new' broken-in work shoes will begin their life in the shop.

-grampa dan