Rain Boots

Rain Boots; memories that have no recorded images dancing in-between light refractions. These rain boots exist only in the sketches of the following words…

I am thankful for the trees. The free newspapers come from trees.

Early October, it was the beginning of rainy season. I was urban camping out of a van on a journey up the west coast. I was heading the wrong direction; all the birds in migration south could confirm this fact to you.

Recently in the South West, a week or so in L.A; it was my third or fourth day in the San Francisco Bay area. The first night was spent in Golden Gate Park. The next two nights we migrate to the east bay. We camped on Telegraph, a block from the bustling shops on Shattuck Ave in Berkeley.

Living out of a van with no electricity and not much leg room, in-between vegan meal preparation and yoga classes, my friend and I would often cruise the streets and window shop. We stumbled into a shoe store with big 50% off sales advertised in the front windows. The weather had been pleasant so far throughout my entire journey, but the gray sky’s of autumn were creeping in. The pair of bright yellow rain boots, with green and red plaid stripe print, was very tempting.

I like to keep my collection of items to the minimum. At first it was very easy to pass up these hot, but bulky rain boots. That night, it rained. Coming home to the van after walking through the rain that night made me realize, my summer shoe accessories kit, consisting of a pair of Reef flip flops and gold colored imitation Crocks, were just not going to cut it, for the weather to come.

That night, as we parked in the shadow of Berkeley Tree Sitters, I gave thanks to the tree gods and I crumpled free newspapers, shoving them into my soggy crocks for drying.

The next morning, again gray skys, my motivation for life was fading with the passing of summer. I decided to treat myself to a major house improvement purchase. My feet were my foundation, upon which all the rest of me resides.

The yellow rain boots were a temporary spirit lifting acquisition as well as a path to extreme internal introspection. Throughout the next few weeks, as precipitation became more persistent, it was becoming clearer to me that my summer of urban camping was lying closer to the road of “lifestyle” than temporary “vacation.”

I lived out of those yellow boots. I splashed through puddles, exploring city street ways and counting my blessings. At night I would stuff my yellow rain boots with dry newspaper. In the morning I would have a dry vessel for my feet, if I was lucky enough to scrounge up a semi clean pair of dry socks.

Feet are so precious. They ground us to the earth. They carry us through our day. They let us travel and choose our own way.

It rained and rained as we ventured north, out of California towards the Pacific Northwest. Fog steamed from pools of water while we weaved through crests of varying elevation. In the darkness of night, we pulled over near Redding. I wrote a song on my banjo about vehicles that tended to stall in wet weather conditions. Blessed were we in our trusty way of transportation. Dirt road, big trees; the sound of rain pitter-pattered on the steal roof and lulled us to sleep.

The Layers Show

Pink Hat, $10 Walgreen’s Seattle
Brown Fleece Scarf, detachable piece from brown K-Mart coat
White Cotton Thermal, cheap, some resale shop escaping memory
Brown Harvest Gathering 2008 Tee, $5, Harvest Gathering Lake City MI
Pink & Brown fake fur vest, under $30, K-mart Seattle.

Warm dry feet and being able to find comfort in the rooting process………priceless.