"These boots were made for walkin'..."

This is a wonderful time of year. The weather starts to cool, and I rediscover my boots.



I got them in 2001, when The Engineer and I took a trip to San Antonio, TX to celebrate our first anniversary. I'd never before owned cowboy boots (except maybe when I was a kid), so I felt it was a big step to take.

In fact, I didn't even wear them much for the first year or two--I guess I just wasn't in touch with my inner cowgirl, and I didn't have the sass to pull off boots. But once I did start wearing them, and got them broken in, I discovered I loved them.

There's something about a good pair of cowboy boots. That soft, supple leather cradles your feet, and the supportive soles are great for walking on the range or, in my case, in the grocery store. Your heels are supposed to move up and down in the boot a bit as you walk. That means every year I have to develop little heel callouses, but once that break-in phase is over, I love the feel of shoes that aren't too constrictive. They feel natural and great.

And the cool thing about cowboy boots is that there are so many different styles. If you aren't really the type to listen to George Strait and go to rodeos on the weekend, you don't have to buy boots with pointy toes and with intricate, multicolored designs stitched into the leather. My boots are Justin Ropers--they are pretty plain, with low heels and rounded toes. When I visited my sister and she saw them poking out under my jeans, she said, "Those almost look like cowboy boots." I lifted my jeans and said, "They are!" They're simple enough that when I'm wearing them I don't feel that my outfit's incomplete without a cowboy hat and a pair of Wranglers (neither of which I own.)

Since I started wearing my boots, there have been winters in which they've sat, forgotten, on my closet floor. But in years such as this one, when I remember how much I love to wear these boots, my feet--and my inner cowgirl--rejoice. Yee haw!