They were a part of me and they took me through some of my highest highs and my lowest lows. I felt they were hand-crafted, one of a kind and not made on an assembly line. Or maybe I just want to believe that, the way you want to believe that one person on this earth was “made” for you.
The shaft went up past my knees and they were made of supple camel leather. I never stopped to wonder if any camels were hurt in the process or if camels are possibly an endangered species. I didn’t care. Those boots were made for me.
I could sleep in those boots or I could run marathons in them.
The heel was low and flat and they made just the right clicking sound when I walked on hard floors, the kind of clicking that commanded attention but not the kind that made you scared like the principal was coming. The buckles, the tassels, they were in all the right places.
Of course I always wore bare feet in them because I don’t really own socks and I despise socks unless they’re fuzzy reading socks, yet somehow my feet were always completely dry because the perfect amount of air circulated inside these boots.
Best of all they looked good. This was back in 2010ish when leggings and tall boots were the look. These boots made any outfit look amazing. And expensive. I pitied the gals wearing the cheap vinyl tall boots. I felt like a queen in my camel leather boots.
About six years into wearing them through rain, snow and sleet, the leather started to give way from the soles. The stitching was missing. I wanted to cry. How could I exist without my beloved camel leather boots?
I was in the city and so I took them to a shoe repair guy. He charged me $120 to repair these boots that I paid $70 for. Yes, $70!!! I had purchased them off of an online discount site that has since gone bankrupt, no wonder.
The shoe repair guy breathed some new life into them and patched them but of course he didn’t have the hide from a camel to use, I’m not even sure what he used but they were never the same after that. I mean yeah, the patch added character but I didn’t feel the same about the boots. The love had faded.
It was the end of an era.
bloom.planted.north 
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