About 15-20 years ago, I don’t remember, my sister offered me a pair of #Timberland hiking shoes for my birthday. I didn’t really hike at the time, but she heard that I wanted to, so she bought them for me. They were way more than I usually paid for a pair of shoes for myself, even my dress shoes for work cost less. I felt a bit guilty that she lavished this extravagance on me, when I’d probably end up using them only for rainy day dashes to the convenience store a couple blocks away.
As I was tramping through the mud in the forest near my home today, I was glad I had them on. Worn, but still comfy and useful after all these years, they’re the only pair of hiking shoes I’ve ever owned. Real wanderers have different boots for the terrain and the occasion. These are the ones I’ve used, regardless.
I started thinking about how long I’ve had them. Then, I thought about where they’ve been…
They’ve walked all around California, Lake Tahoe, Big Bear, King’s Canyon and Big Basin.
When I got lost on my first year in France, collecting chestnuts in the woods with my family until the dark enveloped us, they guided me to a residential neighborhood, where a kind soul drove us back to our car.
County Antrim in Ireland rose to meet them, as did the Giant’s Causeway, Fair Head and many bonny glens.
A very high railway in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, rode them within site of the Jungfrau and two other peaks, and the valley surrounding. They didn’t go to the top, but tread over the paths just below so I could take in the stunning view.
Of course, they’ve been all over France, including l’Aiguille du Midi in sight of Mont Blanc in the Alps. Both higher and lower Savoie. The Pyrenées mountains and perpetually wet fields in the Basque country. Yes, they saw Saint-Jean-de-Luz, on the path of the Chemin St. Jacques de Compostela, but no, they didn’t walk the trail. Someday. Lower elevations in Brittany, Limousin and Auvergne had them out wherever the land was rough, notably the craggy red rock coast near Paimpol, the Pierres Jaumâtres amazing huge weathered stones in Creuse, and the Puy de Dôme sleeping volcano.
They climbed to the top of Machu Picchu, in a reflective moment when my sister wasn’t well. They climbed back down to bring me to Southern California for her miraculous recovery.
They got me out and about in Central Park and Inwood Hill park and Fort Washington whenever I needed a breath of fresh air in Manhattan, which was always. When even that wasn’t enough, they took me far north of the city on hikes to Breakneck Ridge in Hudson Highlands state park, and long circular trails in Harriman state park.
They’ve marched alongside my son to the top of #BenNevis, the highest peak in the United Kingdom. They subsequently saw #GlenCoe, the fairy ponds, Loch Lomond and many other delights in Scotland. On other occasions in Britain, they trampled the #Coswolds, the #LakeDistrict, and the #YorkshireDales.
Newer model shoes would no doubt be better adapted to the situation, and to my aging body. However, they can’t tell the stories that these boots can.
Thank you, Jenny, for getting me out into nature! These boots and this body still have a few miles left in us.
If you like walks and stories, check out MyVoiceMap audio tours of the Père Lachaise cemetery:
See funny pics and text from the walk in The Chairfather book.
#Paris #tourism #travel #VoiceMap #audioguide #eBook #goofball
© 2018 Copyright Joe Start. All rights reserved.
As a mother of two brilliant beautiful children you always strive that they will love each other and get along. This story warmed my heart and made we want to be Joe Start’s and his sister’s Mom.
In a world full of silliness it is so nice to read about love and appreciation. Keep walking Joe Start.