“”The time has come,” the walrus said, “to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships – and sealing wax – of cabbages and kings”
I’m not going to be the one to tell her. Why have her notice is my thought. If Mother Nature wants to keep sending us days in the 60’s this time of year, I’ll not break the spell. People are wearing short sleeve shirts or light jackets at the most. I even had my bedroom window open all night so I could smell the fresh air. Today is beautiful with a sunny blue sky and not even a tiny breeze. The leaves still hanging for dear life on the ends of branches aren’t moving. Today is a reprieve. Gracie has been out almost the entire morning. I’ll join her after this as the feeders need filling.
When I went to get the papers from the driveway, it was one of those stand a while and take in the day sort of mornings. I haven’t had one of those since early fall. I did miss the front flowers I used to love looking at every day, but the air was clear and bright, and that’s more than enough for late November.
Buckle shoes were never my favorite when I was a kid. Unlike sneakers, you couldn’t just slide your foot out. You had to unbuckle the shoes first. Also, they were only for church or school so they were tainted by their use. Every Easter my mother bought us girls new shoes with buckles because they were fancy shoes. Buckle shoes, though, had design drawbacks. If a lace on my sneaker broke, I’d tie a knot and use the lace anyway or my mother would buy new laces when the knots got too many. Buckle straps broke, and there was just nothing you could do. I always knew when the strap was getting close as there was process before the break. First, the hole in the strap would get bigger because the shoe fit only one way so I always used the same hole. Pretty soon the area around the hole would start to lose color, then it would bend and finally the hole would give way, and the strap became two pieces, one shorter than the other, and the shoe was useless without the strap. My dad would try to fix it, but nothing ever held. My mother was stuck buying me a new pair. I think she was thrilled when saddle shoes became popular because they lasted the whole school year, and the strap shoes were relegated to Sundays so they lasted much longer. We all now had two good pairs of shoes and a pair of sneakers. We felt rich.
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November 26, 2011 at 12:50 pm
We had quite a beautiful day today, chilly, no wind and sunshine now and again. But things have changed and now the winds get stronger and we’ve had some rain too. We’re all waiting for the big storm to arrive. It’ll be worse by the coast line and I hope the forest will take the most of it here.
I remember having sandals with buckles (is that the right way to say it?) and as You say they always broke in just that way 🙂 I can honestly not remeber how many shoes I had but since we were rather poor I guess I had one pair for the summer and one for the winter.
They are showing a new fantasy series on tv now called Grimm. Have You seen it? The first episodes are rather good anyway.
Have a great day!
Christer.
November 26, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Christer.
It got as high as 64° here today. I couldn’t believe it!I guess in the next couple of days it will start to get cold, but none of us have anything to complain about.
I hope you’ll be okay during the storm.
Yes, you said it right, perfectly. We had good shoes and play shoes so we only had twopairs also. Most everyone I knew did. We also had winter boots, but they were a necessity.
I haven’t missed a single Grimm since it started!
November 26, 2011 at 1:19 pm
When I was a kid I always had two pairs of shoes. The lace up oxfords for fancy occasions and sneakers. My mom usually bought Keds, for everyday use in school. When I was 13 I moved from Dallas back to NY City. The rules in the Junior High Schools was very different from the laid back southern schools. Jeans and sneakers were forbidden and ties were required. If you forgot your tie the assistant Principal had a supply of very long and ugly ties that you had to wear all day. When I arrived for the first day of school they allowed me to wear the jeans and sneakers for that one day, but forced me to wear an ugly tie with my Izod style golf shirt. I never got over the embarrassment and I hated every day at the school. By the time high school rolled around they couldn’t enforce the rules about the ties because most of the boys were bigger than the Principals and teachers.
Since I had to wear dress shoes daily I discovered penny loafers. Not having to tie my shoes was my small rebellion against the district. Today, because I spend many hours teaching class while standing I buy dress oxfords that have rubber soles and I only wear New Balance walking shoes the rest of the time.
I have lobbied against ties and sport jackets at work for 18 years and finally we are wearing open collar shirts and V neck sweaters. The deciding factor was not style but money. We still have a small faction of instructors who want to go back to wearing ties and coats, but money always trumps style.
November 26, 2011 at 5:29 pm
Bob,
That was exactly the number we had as well-shoes for school and church and sneakers for playing. I swear we all wore Keds!
In my elementary school it didn’t matter the shoes we wore with our uniforms, but in high school I had to wear black loafers which I never minded wearing.
Jeans weren’t allowed when I went to high school on the cape and guys had to wear shirst with colars but no ties.
Some of the teachers where I worked wore jeans and fancy t-shirts. I thought they totally lacked any professionalism. I don’t think ties are necessary, but I think a nice pair of pants and a nice shirt are important. The kids can dress the way they want but I’d like the teachers to dress a few steps above them.
November 26, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Unfortunately, our clients (students) used to dress in business casual and the instructor wore a tie and jacket which was a few steps above. Today they come in flip flops, cut-offs and tea shirts. Slacks and a button down dress shirt is way above.
November 26, 2011 at 3:32 pm
It looks as if the rain has stopped and it might be sunny, but I’m not moving from my bed to look out the front window. Jewels will follow and want to go out, and I’m not awake enough to be outside with her. When I was a kid, I had to wear orthopedic shoes, which I hated. I wanted mary janes, or penny loafers. Often I would try to hide my shoes, but my parents always found them. Now, at my old age I need a firm arch, and had to discard ( donate) many shoes.
I’m trying to find the lyrics to a song, which I believe was written by Holly Near, ” Small Business Blues”. I have the HARP record, signed my Holly, but can’t play the song on my funky player.
Well, my princess has jumped off the bed and has that look in her eyes.
Waving Lori
November 26, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Lori,
It was such a beautiful day today! Gracie was hardly in the house.
I totally understand not wanting to wear orthopedic shoes. You gave me a chuckle about hiding them!
I looked up the song, but she didn’t write it:
http://www.hollynear.com/harp.html
Sorry I couldn’t find more.
Waving!
November 26, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Saddle shoes. My sisters thrived on them. I could never understand why. But then the boys found weejuns and those loafers were the best fitting shoes for us. My pair were always brown as my Dad said they were easier to keep clean. Black always had a haze to them. I also remember combat boots were cooler than ordinary boots for winter. That came along in High School and those old boots lasted years. Tying them up was an effort but once done, it was playtime!
November 26, 2011 at 8:25 pm
Z&Me,
I still have a pair of saddle shoes, bought them for a 50’s night. I like them a lot and probably should wear them just to get my money’s worth.
Mine were always black loafers-school uniform demanded them.
January 2, 2012 at 7:34 am
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