First Things First

Before I even get to the details for my next walk I have to get this out of my system.  Here it is -- my rant on excessive consumerism and our throwaway society.

Pictured here on the right, my hiking boots that I wore on the Camino.  On the left, my new boots that I'm currently breaking in.  What is wrong with this picture?

Both pairs of boots are the same make -- Vasque.  Both have Vibram soles. I wore the boots on the right for 18 months before walking in excess of 800 kms on the Camino.  You'll notice the heel is worn down to the underlying plastic and the treads on the sole are flattening out.  You'll also notice that the top, the boot part, is in perfect condition.  No splits, no rips, no holes. They are comfortable and perfectly formed to my feet.  But they don't have enough left on the soles to carry me on another walk.  No problemo -- I'll get them resoled.  Right?

Wrong.

First off, in my smallish city, there used to be a shoe repair.  Used to be.  Old guy owned the place.  And I used to take stuff in to him, small stuff mostly. Heels needing replacing, leather stitching on sandals or purses.  I asked him once what was going to happen when he retired and he got kind of snarly and said young people just don't want to learn the business these days so it would just close.  And that's exactly what happened.  But then some younger guy did open a shoe repair.  I took a few small things to him and he'd fix them on the spot, no charge.  I told him he needed to charge for the small stuff or he wouldn't stay in business long.  He didn't.  Stay in business long that is.

So now I need to find a place to resole my boots.  And I traveled far and wide to find these guys.  First place told me they couldn't do it, the boots weren't designed to be resoled.  Next place was a combination shoe repair / blacksmith.  Guy like that should be able to do something as simple as putting a new sole on a boot.  Yeah maybe hobnail boots from a bygone era. Not so my Vasques.  They weren't designed to be resoled.  Third place, same thing.  They weren't designed to be resoled.

Built in obsolescence.  It's just cheaper now to toss something and replace it than it is to fix it.  Because we are a consumer driven society.  If we repaired things instead of buying new the economy would be in the tank in no time. And that drives me bug shit.  Don't even get me started on electronics and technology.

So maybe old Mr Shoe Repair guy wasn't right after all.  Maybe it's not that young people don't want to learn the craft of shoe repair, but that shoes are no longer designed to be repaired.

And because of that I have to go through the whole blister phase all over again.

Moving On

There really is no good way to segue from my last posts so here's another book catch-up before I move on.

I cannot imagine not being a reader.  I mean, what do people do who don't read?  Waiting in the doctor's office...relaxing with a coffee...instead of TV. Especially people who travel.  Long hours in airports, on planes.  I simply cannot imagine doing any of these things without a book.  Of course the opposite also holds true and I put a lot of things that need doing on the back burner when I've got a really good book on the go.  So here's what I read over the last few weeks...

The Quiet Game - Greg Iles:  Not that it's always necessary but if possible I like to start a series at the beginning, even if each novel can be read as a stand alone.  I like to grow with the character as the author develops him. Iles' protagonist is Penn Cage (cool name), a lawyer turned novelist.  At least Iles is not a former lawyer turned novelist as so many of the "best sellers" are.  I enjoyed this book even though I found it a little long, a little heavy on description, and my biggest beef when reading anyone -- the sexual relationship that gets off the ground way too fast.  But I'll definitely be reading book 2 in the series if for no other reason than I bought it at a book sale and it's been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years.

Go Set A Watchman - Harper Lee:  Poor Harper Lee.  Did she really want to publish this book?  Was she taken advantage of?  Inquiring minds want to know.  This book does nothing for her legacy.  There was no story here although there were a few interesting sections on racism.  I read it out of sheer curiosity, but will now blank it from my mind and remember the characters as they were in To Kill A Mockingbird.

Day Four - Sarah Lotz:  I think I will be adding Lotz to my list of "gotta read" authors.  This one is set on a cruise ship that looses power on day four.  And then bad things start to happen.  I don't want to spoil the fun so I'll leave it at that.  Except to say I could smell the sewage while I was reading.  The ending definitely won't appeal to some -- you "tie it all up with a big bow" readers have been warned.  And if you like to cruise?  Well, this book might make ya think twice about signing up for your next one. 

Before I Wake:  Robert J Wiersema:  Our September book club selection.  I kind of don't know how I feel about this book.  Not being a religious person, I found the symbolism and religious elements a little heavy handed.  I enjoyed the writing style as it told the story from various first person perspectives in short bursts which definitely kept me turning the pages.  I'm really looking forward to the discussion at the end of the month for this one.  Should be lively.  

Angels Flight - Michael Connelly:  Catching up on an early Harry Bosch novel.  Have I said before that IMHO Connelly is the best there is writing in this genre?  Which is a bit surprising to me because I find Bosch to be a pretty arrogant guy, the kind of cop that used to make me feel about an inch high when I was doing the job.

Next up?

There's a new walk afoot.

      

Lessons On Living

"If there is no heaven for dogs, 
then I want to go where they go when I die."

-Anonymous

I feel obligated to end the story even though there was ever only one possible ending.  In the end we had 17 days together.  Seventeen days. From diagnosis to saying goodbye.  Seventeen days.

I'm not a fan of the saying, "live each day like it's your last."  I get the idea, but think about putting that into practice.  Seriously, you'd get nothing done. Would you go to work?  Clean the house?  Watch TV?  Read a book? Exercise?  Say no to the triple scoop cone?  I honestly have no idea what I would do if it was my last day on planet Earth.

But here I was faced with every day possibly being Sally's last day.  And I did right by her.  She was never alone.  She was walked when she wanted to walk and carried when she couldn't walk any more.  She was fed whatever she wanted until food held no interest for her.  She was told, "I love you" at least a bazillion times each day.  And then on that last day I did the kindest thing I could do for her.  I took her to the vet and held her while she went to sleep forever.

Maybe that's the way to live each day like it's the last.  Maybe it's just that simple.  Hug your dog.  Be kind.  Love and be loved.

Sally was loved.