Shoes

One of my favorite all-time lines from a movie comes from Clueless. The main character (a young lady) is outraged when one of her friends gives her a hard time for still being a virgin in high school. She responds with quick wit, "You see how picky I am with my shoes, and they just go on my FEET."

There are plenty of quirky aspects to my nature. But right out there in the forefront is my obsession with shoes. Its not that I have a ton of them, although I have passed through that stage of life. My current issue is welcoming them in to my closet. Over the years I have become (and this is an understatement) increasingly picky. Perhaps this is due to living in BGO and having to choose something on infrequent Stateside visits that would last. Perhaps my inner budget nut comes out and shrieks at paying any amount over 5 bucks for a pair. More likely though, it is my ability to feel multiple hurty places from otherwise smooth looking surfaces... somewhat akin to a modern princess and the pea. Who knows. Kevin jokes that it took me less time to decide to move to Uganda for 10 years than it does to buy one pair of shoes. He no longer shops with me, looking like a deer caught in the headlights at the mere suggestion that he tag along for input. Who can blame him? I typically try on every pair in my size at a store, sometimes more than once. 2-3 hours can easily be spent with nothing to show for the effort. Not very encouraging. Even my mother, the most patient person I know, can raise her eyebrows and sigh deeply when I announce that I need to shop for shoes.

However, the end result is a closet containing minimal shoes that are all completely comfortable, useful and lovely (at least to me). Each purchase a product of this same slow agonizing process. Fortunately, I buy shoes to last for years, adding slowly and carefully to my collection.

The problem just now is that summer is approaching and a pair of sandals would be helpful. Sigh. Two years ago, I bought a pair of brown Keens that doubled as my hiking shoes. They are wonderful, I highly recommend them, however... they do tend to be a bit clunky with a skirt or dress pants. So the search for sandals is on. I am 2 stores and 6 hours into the process with no luck. 1 pair almost made the cut. A Taos sandal with a floral patterned footbed and three leather and velcro straps for individual adjustment. The top and bottom straps were a nice, go with anything, brown. The middle strap a stylish darkish red. Some sort of beaded adornment. Tasteful, useful, comfortable. Indeed, these sandals made it all the way home... only to be returned 2 days later when I wore them out the front door. At first they were deliciously comfortable (just like in the store), but as I walked quickly across the street with the twins, they began to slide forward until my foot worked itself backward and onto the street. I stared in horror. Are you kidding? I've never had a sandal that scooted forward off my foot. I readjusted the velcro straps and tried again. The same result. My bare foot on the sidewalk, my stylish shoe just in front. Like trying to push opposing magnets together. With a defeated sigh, I went back to the store to return them. Now for future purchases, in addition to agonizing over style and fit, I'll be walking briskly up and down the aisles. This probably won't add any time to the whole process, but it might just make me look slightly more bizarre. But then again, when have I been afraid of that? Sigh.