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| You can tell by the little bulging muscle on the right side of my calf that I have tried to no avail, exercising my calves to build them up. If a scorpion or other such creature sees this gap in the boots, they may find it an appealing hiding place.This may warrant a visit to the shoe repair store. |
Orange luggage, yes! Fabulous! Top quality! Lightweight! The four giant boxes and two smaller boxes arrived on Friday afternoon. How easily I lifted them into the house! The Fed Ex guy even commented on the lightweight big boxes, curious as to the contents, amazed when I told him it was luggage.
Carefully, a little knife in hand, I slit the tape off the over sized boxes to easily pull out the orange bags. Squealing like a kid, I couldn’t open them quickly enough, tossing one on the bed to unzip and inspect further.
The orange isn’t a Halloween pumpkin orange or the color of a naval orange. It is subtle, definitely orange, comparable to the color of the mashed sweet potatoes, under the fluffy pillow of melted marshmallows to be devoured on Thanksgiving day. (We don’t eat that dish anymore…or even the sweet potatoes for that matter; too much sugar, too many carbs, too much starch.)
The bags are deep, well constructed, easy to zip. Within minutes I loaded up one of the luggage carts with three of the 30″ Antler Bags, topped off with one of the new orange carry on bags. Yes, I knew they were empty. I wanted to see how well the four items would fit on the luggage cart. Perfect!
Of course, when they are loaded to the brim with our “stuff” it will be different but…it will be manageable. I was thrilled. Last night, I ordered two more of the 30″ orange bags after I sheepishly told Tom we’d each need three, not two of the bags.
I’d expected him to flinch when he heard we’d need three 30″ bags. He didn’t. He smiled at me, reminded of our somewhat preposterous situation, leaving everything behind, taking everything we need with us for the next three years, five years, ten years. Who knows?
We’ll manage. We’ll manage with a grin on our faces. And when the bags feel really heavy, toppling off the cart, landing on a well-booted foot, we will smile, stop, help each other and keep moving on. This we know for sure.
And, my Clark lace up boots arrived on Thursday during the jewelry sale. I didn’t open the box right away. I had spent so much time looking online, that I wanted to prolong the anticipation a little longer, preferring to stay preoccupied with the sale.
Returning home from taking down the hot pink “for sale” signs, I opened the box, feeling giddy over the great find, only to be sorely disappointed when I tried them on.
The foot, a perfect fit, the calf, a fiasco! I had measured my skinny calves before buying the boots, checking the detailed description of each possibility to ensure a good fit. They called it “shaft circumference.” The description stated a 14″ shaft circumference. My calves measured 12.5″ leaving adequate room to tuck in pants to keep out 6″ scorpions. They lied.
The shaft circumference measured 16.5″, leaving room for both of my hands to reach inside. An entire scorpion family could reside in there. No thank you. Now what? Back to the computer, searching “skinny calf boots, thin calf boots, narrow calf boots, skinny leg boots? No!!!
Friday morning, before friends were arriving for breakfast I started calling local shoe repair store. Yes, most likely, it can be done…the shaft can be made smaller, for a price, of course.
“Bring them in for an estimate. It could be $70 or more,” says Bob of Bob’s Shoe Repair in Wayzata, Minnesota, where 30 years ago, maybe 40, I’d go to get shoes repaired. Who repairs shoes these days? Gosh, I sound old.
Monday morning, off to Wayzata I’ll go with the Clark boots. Thus far, I’ve invested $149.98 plus shipping for a total of $161.98. This could translate into a total investment of $250. But, the end result may be a perfectly fitted, well constructed, long lasting, timelessly stylish, safe from scorpions, sure footed pair of comfortable boots, lasting for years, that I will be wearing as we dash down the concourse to our gate.
Next to my sweetie, I’ll be wheeling one of our 250 pound capacity two wheeled carts, loaded up with three 30″ orange Antler bags, an orange Antler carry on bag, a laptop backpack, a handbag for me, a man purse for Tom (called a murse) heading to our next adventure. Homeless? Yep! Harried? For sure! Happy? Undoubtedly!