Confessions of a Boot Addict
Journal Entry #21
February 1, 2022
“Hello, my name is Amie and I have a boot problem…”
My addiction started many years ago with a pair of simple brown western boots. Over time these were not enough; I coveted other pairs and gave into the urge. Black stacked heels, gray suede booties, Italian calf leather, embossed, embroidered, zippered, you name it.
My attraction to western/cowboy boots is not rational- it’s deeply emotional. I love the way they look and how I feel in them. They make me feel powerful and sexy and rebellious all at once. They are a statement. I am not a showy person per se, but my boots can be. And, frankly, they also make me taller (without having to totter around in uncomfortable high heels).
So, as we planned and packed for our trip I struggled with which of my many boots to take with me and which to leave behind. I have the larger Thule roof storage box on the van. Why? Among other things, I needed enough space to carry several of my favorite pairs.
Warning: TEXAS IS A VERY DANGEROUS PLACE FOR A BOOT ADDICT.
Nearly everyone in Texas wears boots. All. The. Time. They are everywhere. People wearing boots at the grocery store and at the pharmacy.
People walking down the average Main Street wear them, and of course, nearly everyone at all the music venues and watering holes is wearing their best dancing boots. There is simply no escaping folks wearing boots and the proliferation and variety of beautiful boots available to me, both new and secondhand.
So I fed my fix. I fell hard and fast. And when it was all done and we left Austin, I had a “three pair hangover” (really it’s four pairs if you include the ones I found in Nashville back in September, sigh!)
With another month in Texas followed by travels in New Mexico and Arizona, Tom is braced for additional “boot benders.” I said I would make earnest efforts to find other smaller, less space-consuming habits. Tom has suggested items like small stud earrings. Actually, I do think can work with that… We are heading towards silver and turquoise country after all!
