Leaderboard

Big travel day today - Manchester to London to Leeds (and back to my boat) saw many a block heeled boot - from 2.5” to 3.5” but what surprised me was in Manchester I saw several quite high - 4” to 4.5” stilettos, both boots and pumps. And worn by people who knew how to walk gracefully in them. Their ages varied from about 30 to mid fifties. it’s been quite a while since I’d seen people wearing high stilettos.

I have had these wedge heeled rain boots for a very long time. They are supposed to be shiny, but they were in a corner covered with dust, and I wasn't going to take the time to clean them up just for this comment. I have worn them occasionally in the past, and they don't do a horrible job of pretending to be actually utilitarian. About 2 1/4" heels. Those Hunters with the 3 1/2" block heel look pretty sharp (for a rain boot), so of course they quit making them!

None of those things would be hard to repair, although collectively that may not be worth it unless the bicycle was special to you in some way. If we lived closer by I could probably fix a lot if that - some of those things do require specialist bicycle shop tools which I have but you may not. But Yorkshire is a ways off Iowa …

In principle, I would prefer to do without a car. I live in an urban area with good public transport and within walking distance of the town centre and principal amenitites. But the preferred supermarkets are a little out of walking range and even a modest grocery shop is too heavy to carry in one go, so the car is needed for that and anything else bought on the (just) out-of-town trading estates. Also, although retired, I am often doing 'advanced DIY' at various family properties, for which my estate car is essential for carrying tools and materials. My nearest family (two sons) both live an easy 55 minute drive away - but almost two hours on the bus, excluding onward transit from their town centre - and no direct train service either. My wife has a car too, and I do foresee the time when we will share a single car - but I doubt she will want the same type as me! Meanwhile, we carry on, using the cars as sparingly as possible and endeavouring to avoid the ever-increasing parking charges and the draconian penalties for straying into a bus lane or low-traffic area, or for exceeding 20mph urban speed limits - all of which have removed any pleasure one might have had from driving in the past.

I have cowboy boots with a massive 11 cm high heel. But they are almost completely hidden by jeans. I've been wearing these boots for over six months now, but not more than once a week. I walk in them in the park with my wife. This happens most often in the evening, but several times it also happened during the day. There are not many people in this park. The few people we meet on a walk often don't notice my shoes. Those who notice are surprised, you can tell by the look on their faces, and for the most part, women notice. I haven't received any comments in these six months, maybe because I don't wear my boots in public that often. If I used to be constantly nervous every time I went out, now I just go and enjoy wearing what I really want to wear. I think a lot depends on ourselves, the more harmonious we feel in such shoes, the more confidently we walk, the less we are noticed.