New Boots & Such on NaBloPoMo #6

Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 23285 – 1170

Here’s the haps:

This is a good start to experiment with a feature that WordPress has, at least on the self-hosted (what can be called WordPress.org sites. WordPress.com supports sites that use their servers. If you use an independent server and download the WordPress software yourself you have a different, less robust, support system. But you also have more perquisites when it comes to storage and modification.) systems, which is to use my Google Photo library to post images. I don’t really know how it works but I am going to give it a go.

Mrs. Herb and I received a financial blessing that allowed us more latitude than we normally have. My splurge was to make a visit to a Western store called Boot Barn. My son-in-law told me about it. He buys his own boots there and he also buys boots for his two boys. They have matching boots they can wear if they want.

This is the current pair I have. They are Twisted X brand and have lasted me a number of years and saved me from getting my toe cut off with a chainsaw. They actually are still pretty good but are “down at the heel” as the saying goes and the lining is not doing that great anymore.

The first pair of new boots I bought, I bought a half size too big and a wide instead of a regular. Normally I wear a 9 1/2 (American size, not sure what other counterpart sizes would be, sorry.) Regular but these are 10 Wide. These are a little big but my plan is to mostly use them with heavy-duty thick winter socks. I can wear them as they are but they are big. These are Ariats and are well made.

One way you know a pair of cowboy boots is too big and will be uncomfortable is that your foot goes in fairly easily. After a while they kind of slop around. As I said, though, I plan to use these with thick socks and I think they will be okay.

When you go to try on boots they should be somewhat hard to pull on and stiff. You may have to stomp your foot in it to settle it on. When I was young and skinny I could do this with no problem. Nowadays I use a set of tools called a boot hook or boot puller. You hook them inside the bootstrap and pull them up. This is where the physical origin of “Pulling yourself up by the bootstraps” comes from, although its metaphorical and colloquial origins differ. When you “boot up” your computer the process was originally called bootstrapping.

The boots I got “for good” as the oldtimers were often wont to say are a new animal to me. For years I have worn the pointed toe. By, “for years” I mean I have been wearing Western clothes since I was a teenager in Wisconsin. I had never been Out West and don’t really know why but with my first paycheck from my first job I went out and bought a pair of cowboy boots. The next check went to buying a hat. People made fun of me and called me “Tex” but I didn’t care. Anyway, this time I opted for a square toe instead. these are Cody James, the brand my son-in-law buys. They are 9 1/2 D and fit nicely with just the right amount of give. I needed the boot hooks for them.

The last boot-related item I bought was out of necessity. I have a very, very bad habit of using the toe of one foot to push against the heel of the other foot and damage the boots. You can easily make one of these if you are the slightest bit handy but I bought this one. It’s called a boot jack and you stick the heel of your boot in the u-shaped part and step on the other. This way you don’t wind up kicking your heels off and wrecking your boots.

The final item was a new hat. While I really like the gray felt Stetson my brother-in-law gave me, it isn’t as much my style as this one is. The shape is called the Cattleman and this one is made by Cody James. It’s always been the one that seems to “fit” me. the one in my profile pic is a Cattleman from Master Hatters of Texas.

So, this post has used images imported directly from my Google Images library. I hope it works or I will have to put the pics in my media library and redo this post.

I’ll show you what Mrs. Herb gets in a couple of days.