These Boots Are Made For

I'm in the midst of composing a photojournal from a few years back--about 1998-2000. In May of 2000 I travelled to Portugal with Habitat for Humanity, where we worked on two construction sites. At the second site we did a great deal of sanding walls and ceilings. So I was on ladders and makeshift scaffolds much of the time. In one instance, another member of the team got a photo that I still have. I'm wearing the team t-shirt, dirty jeans, and these boots:

This photo was taken a few weeks ago.

I bought these boots in 1997 at Eastern Mountain Sports. They were designed for hiking, but I have used them for snow-trudging in the city of Montreal, working on all sorts of construction projects, as well as the mandatory long hiking trips. These have been the pair of boots for me for over thirteen years.

I've had them resoled twice (Vibrams--good stuff). They've received about three coats of spray-on waterproofing, and five or six coats of bacon grease. (Yes, just as water-repellent but cheaper, since you're going to eat the bacon anyway.) I've put rubber cement on cracks at the base of the tongues two or three times. Two years ago the inner leather lining got so ratty that I took them to a nearby cobbler. He patched them up for about fifty bucks, and told me when I picked them up, "That's the last time we can fix these." It was also the first time the interior had been fixed.

This year the leather cracked all the way through on the right boot. No amount of grease or glue is going to patch the hole--and I can see other holes on their way. Thus I'm going to bite the proverbial bullet and get a new pair of boots. Good-bye Old Faithfuls! You have gone far beyond the call of duty.

I hope I can get another pair from Eastern Mountain Sports. I can't think of another piece of clothing that has lasted thirteen years.

~emrys