it’s raining, it’s pouring . . . but I’ve got boots!

Last week when I was too tired, too crankyfor my regularly-scheduled Wednesday Shoes Post, my sister left a comment asking if that meant there’d be two pairs of shoes this week. Well, Hilary’s gone off to London, England (after finishing the Victoria Marathon with a time that qualifies her to run Boston next year), so I don’t think she’ll be checking on me. But I thought I could show you two pairs, although they might not be quite what you’re expecting. Very fitting to the weather, though, as you’ll see.

When we lived in Prince Rupert, years ago, people used to joke about being able to tell us by our webbed feet. Here, now, on our little island, we like to be identified by our Healy Hansons (or clones) blue-and-yellow boat boots. Here are mine, good for getting into the kayak in the winter or just throwing on at the back door when I head out to dump the compost.

It really rains around here — they don’t jokingly call it the Wet Coast (properly, of course, the West Coast) for nothing. We don’t keep a car on the island, so there’s always a kilometre of biking or walking along a muddy (unpaved) road to get to the boat. Once the rains start, I usually pack the (dressier) boots or shoes I’m going to wear at work, and I do my trudging through puddles in something indestructible. Since I got tired of always wearing gumboots, a few years ago I splurged on something a bit more fun. These are wide enough that I can tuck my jeans into them so that I don’t have to work all day with wet cuffs. Remember that I work at a university-college so I can get away with more casual attire — I’ve been known to wear these with tights and a jean skirt. Not so much, though, since a student told me he liked my “Barbie boots”!Do you remember how much fun it used to be to stomp in puddles when you were little? I remember getting home from school and pulling off those horrid old-style boots that fit over top of the shoes, awful to get on and off — we’d have splashed enough on the way home that our socks and shoes were wet inside the boots, and my mom would be upset with us for adding to her laundry woes. I also remember taking my kids out for rainy day walks when they were preschoolers — no surer way to entertain a little person, really, than letting her splash in a puddle and find worms. Well, I try to be discreet about it, but I have to tell you, there’s still fun to be found in a good puddle stomp if you’re wearing high enough, waterproof boots — Don’t take my word for it; there’s probably a puddle nearby!