Month of Gratitude Day 16: Happy Toes

They are not much to look at, but these boots have traveled many miles with me over the past four years, and I didn't know until yesterday, but they took a little trip without me this past month. 

My friend Nancy B and I have (almost) identical Columbia "Dillon Ridge" hiking boots.  We have talked about them a lot to others in our group and extolled their virtues.  This summer she told me she bought a new pair identical to the old ones and I thought I would do the same. When hiking friends ask for recommendations, these are the go to shoes for me.  I have loved my boots since the first day I put them on my feet.  They never let me down like some other shoes do.  I could hike for miles without soreness or pain. 

But a month ago, suddenly something went wrong.  They no longer fit.  They cramped my toes and after a hike I could hardly wait to get them off.  I could feel my toes throbbing at night when I was trying to sleep.  I couldn't figure out what had happened.  Did my feet swell?  Did the boots shrink?  I tried a variety of socks, but they were the socks I had always worn and none of them made any difference.

I went online typing "my shoes shrank" and "my shoes suddenly don't fit" into Google.  I looked up purchasing a new pair and knew that I would have to pay at least $80.00 if I could even find them.  I scrubbed them up last weekend and stuffed towels inside while they dried to see if they would stretch out.  As I looked up the information inside, I noticed that the tag was marked size 8.  I would never buy size 8, and that puzzled me even more. 

Then the light began to dawn.  About a month ago, in fact it was October 4, we awoke to snow on a hiking Friday.  I had family arriving in the early afternoon and wanted to be back home so I took a small group with me on an alternative hike.  It was very muddy and wet with the new snow and when we all got back to the car, we took our boots off and put them in the back on top of my sweatshirt to keep the car clean.  I had brought a pair of shoes to drive home in.  Nancy B was with me.  Somehow when she got out, she took my boots and left hers in my car.  Since all of them were muddy, they all looked the same.

Yesterday when we met to hike, I asked Nancy if her boots seemed too big.  She said that they did, but she wasn't sure why, and it hadn't been a big deal.  I had her pull down the tongue and read the tag.  They were size 8.5.  She said she never would buy size 8.5 and I said I would never buy size 8.  I also pointed out the scars on the toes from my snowshoes.  She commented on how new and clean looking "my" boots were and I told her how I had scrubbed and waterproofed them last weekend.  She at first was a bit skeptical of my dilemma, but was willing to trade shoes to see if it would make a difference.  We swapped shoes and my toes rejoiced!  At the end of the hike I asked her how her feet felt and she said they were great. Mine were awesome.  I'm grateful to have my boots back, and my toes are feeling much happier.