SEASON OF CHANGE

Today, I finally retired the greatest pair of shoes ever worn by anyone, any place at any time in the history of footwear. Actually, they're hiking boots, not shoes, but I wear (or wore) them all the time. In fact, I've worn them for five long years. We've been through it all: uphill treks in the no-man's land of mountain lions and grizzlies; moonlit, ankle deep waters as coyotes howled and yipped on the trail behind us; sunfried desert marches in the endless sagebrush and rocky arroyos of old Indian lands; and long days of toil and enslavement, heaving books and boxes amidst secretive, poorly carpeted complexes of tall shelving and in sweaty, machismo-filled stockrooms.
What adventures we've had! And it never mattered that those old shoes were becoming more worn and less presentable with each passing season. They were still sturdy and solid as ever, and the most comfortable and perfect fit I have ever known. They were like an extension of my foot. Almost like a part of me. But, as of a few days ago, they had simply reached such a state of deterioration that I was forced, finally and painfully, to part with them...
I'll never go to anybody but Doc Marten's ever again for hiking boots!
The new pair (Docs, of course) are alright. They fit well. I like them. But they just aren't like my old buddies. Not yet, anyway. I had to try on several pairs before I got one I liked. In fact, it was the cheapest pair that fit, felt, and (I think) looked the best. The guy who sold them to me had a stutter. He was a nice guy. I felt a little sorry for him, because the receipt printer wouldn't work and I could tell he didn't know what to do, and his stutter started getting worse. I explained that I work in retail, too, and not to worry; I wasn't going to act like an ass about it. He got his boss, who made me a handwritten receipt and said that, should I decide to bring them back, bring the box, too. It has a unique barcode, he said, which documents the sale in their system.
So I've been wearing the newbies all day, and so far, I'm suitably impressed. As for the old faithfuls? I plan to retire them in a worthy fashion. I could keep them around for dirty work, but they've earned an esteemed place in shoe history, so they'll probably get special treatment. Or who knows? Maybe I'll find them, someday, buried deep in a closet, and all those old memories will come flooding back into my mind. "Hey!" I'll exclaim. "I remember these!" And maybe I'll even try them on again. One last time for all the old times ...