I’m sitting here looking down at my feet, down at my new pair of writing boots.
They’re brown leather Redwing work boots, as close as I could get to the model I wore for the last 10 years. (I resoled those once, and discovered that the most agreeable errand is picking up a pair of boots that are old and resoled.)
I bought these in a shoe store in Cleveland over the weekend. Last night I followed the instructions: I preheated the oven, I stuck the boots in, and then I then melted the Sno-Seal on them.
I need boots to write because writers need material and boots collect material—dust in the cracks from beside the Great Wall, gas in the seams from when my old truck exploded an hour after I’d bought in Albuquerque, bits of dirt from all over the city of Chicago. Beer, oil, spit. Blood, mud, shit.
I’m almost 39. By the time I go back to Cleveland I’ll be almost 50.
And a better writer, with more material.
Comments (6)
Quite possibly my favourite post of yours ever, David. For me it's writing jeans. They don't last as long as your boots, although I tend to put them on and climb up into the attic to write even when they are long past the point where I would wear them in public. But I like the way the faded stains and frayed seams and worn patches tell me stories I would otherwise forget.
But blood? Really? Where did you get blood on your old boots?
Posted by Rueben | March 5, 2008 9:23 AM
Posted on March 5, 2008 09:23
Whenever I bleed for any reason, I wipe it on my boots. From the sounds of it, I don't have to tell you why.
Posted by David Murray | March 5, 2008 9:26 AM
Posted on March 5, 2008 09:26
Oh, how I love this post!!! For me, it's my fave pair of jeans matched with my fave Clemson t-shirt, which is now 20 years old. (I'm not sure I can even remember all the stories it could possibly tell!) And, my hair must be pulled back in a butterfly clip. I don't know why, but that is how it must be for me to be comfortable.
Posted by Susan | March 5, 2008 10:51 AM
Posted on March 5, 2008 10:51
I wish I knew how to post photos here; it would be fun to put up this collection of Writing Duds.
Posted by David Murray | March 5, 2008 10:55 AM
Posted on March 5, 2008 10:55
You melted the Sno-Seal? Is that a good thing?
Posted by Greg Marsh | March 5, 2008 1:30 PM
Posted on March 5, 2008 13:30
Yeah, it comes in a tub and you slather in onto your hot boots and it melts. Try not to get too excited.
Posted by David Murray | March 5, 2008 1:31 PM
Posted on March 5, 2008 13:31