A Good Pair of Boots

Winter somehow seems to have missed us entirely this year.  By writing that line I am secretly hoping to jinx us into receiving a horrendous snow storm that drops a foot of snow on us and takes until April to disappear, because I really have kind of missed having the down time that winter typically brings.  My "weather worries" are deepening with each changing season - the buds are too early on the trees, the ground never froze for more than a week at a time, I have weeds that have continued to quietly grow in the garden all year, and I never had enough time to get the indoor projects completed before spring is knocking at the door.  I am trying to keep track of the appropriate time to start planting stuff in the garden because the temptation is strong to start placing seeds in the ground given the warmer weather....it could be a very long season indeed.

So, to pass the time and quietly prepare the garden, I haul fertilizer....also known as "manure" by most, unless you are covered in it and up to your knees in it....then it simply becomes "shit".

There are very few things that you really need in life on the farm, but a good pair of shit-kickin' boots are definitely one of them.  I don't usually swear, but if you can't say "shit" when you are actually up to your knees in shit, then where else can it legitimately be used? 

The ideal shit-kickin' boots have to be:

Tall:  Because this stuff is deep and only gets deeper as the spring rains come on (if they ever do).

Waterproof:  Because most of what you are tromping through is often largely made of water or the rain has added to the moisture level.

Lightweight:  Because it gets really heavy when you have half an acre of mud on your boots.

Sometimes it helps if the boots have steel toes because animals can be really heavy, and it is also nice if they are big enough that you can fit a large pair of warm socks in them when the weather is cold, but both of these cut down on being lightweight, so it is a bit of a trade off.

Personally, I am very attached to my boots.  They are worn year round and start to mold directly to my feet after a while.  My tan lines in the summer will often extend from the bottom of my shorts to my knees where the tops of my boots are.  When I dislocated my ankle a few years ago I had on a pair of boots - I really would rather have had them simply pull the boot off my horribly dislocated foot, then cut it off, but they weren't brave enough to try.  I am not sure what was more painful - the foot, or watching them cut one of my favorite boots off. 

Some people come home from work and put on their slippers....I come home from work and put on my boots.