Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

“In a while, I will put on some boots

and step out like someone walking in water,   

and the dog will porpoise through the drifts,   

and I will shake a laden branch

sending a cold shower down on us both.”

 

~ Billy Collins, excerpt from “Snow Day”

 

 

Over the past week, I spent a few hours again going down the proverbial rabbit hole. This time, the hunt was on for boots—boots like those our frost-bitten neighbors in Canada wear: serious boots for ice, snow, or whatever else might be frozen and doubtlessly bone-breakingly slick underfoot. 

A friend gave me the idea when she sent me a video clip of a woman wearing rather stylish winter boots outside on icy pavement. 

The woman, who was of a certain age, definitely not a Victoria’s Secret sort, was hoofing it up with her oh-so-red boots, smiling, doing the watuzi dance without a care in the world. Wait a minute, I thought, peering more closely at that footwear. After all, I’d been stuck inside, trapped by the ice monster lurking beneath snow that was a surefire threat to all bones and dignity if set foot upon. 

The more I looked, the more my mouth watered. Why, I needed, wanted, longed for (well, truly declared I’d marry) those boots. I, too, wanted to hoof it up and do a watuzi dance outside. The trick is those boots have retractable metal spikes called crampons. You just fold ‘em out when needed, fold ‘em up otherwise. All the while, you have some pretty dang good-looking snow kickers on. So down that enticing rabbit hole I went…looking at Canadian sites, looking at Italian sites, eBay, and all corners of the globe. 

There must have been a run on red women’s ice-trouncing boots, because my size was hard to find…those Canadians got an early start. The poor weather-beaten delivery guy would need a pair, too, and I’m NOT sharing if I ever do find a pair. By then, it’ll be all melted, spring will be here, and I’ll be looking for mud boots. 

Yet a girl can dream about red boots, right? Those boots that would never let you slip on ice, just make you do happy dances on the way along the winter path. Maybe I’ll head back to the rabbit hole with a steaming cup of hot chocolate in hand to daydream a bit more this afternoon in the cold. Want to join in, Dear Reader? 

• Saluda Community Table is January 28 from 5:30-7 p.m. at Saluda Center, 64 Greenville St.; meals are free, donations are welcome! 
• Saluda School is seeking volunteers for several programs, including lunch buddies, after-school tutoring, and classroom assistance. 
• The 20th Annual Saluda Arts Festival is slated for May 17 this year; artists can apply by March 1 at saluda.com/saluda-arts-festival
• Mountain Page Theater is having auditions (all ages) for “Oliver!” January 29 at 6 p.m. and January 30 from 3:30-5 p.m.  Learn more at www.mountainpage.theater/
• The Women’s Club of Saluda is hosting the first annual Hearts for Saluda Scholarship dinner (lasagna) on February 7; check with any member or find the Women’s Club on Facebook for tickets/reservations. WCOS provides scholarships to students of all ages within the 28773 zip code.

Saluda Sympathy goes to the much-loved Nabors family. Sometimes, there are no words, especially when something happens suddenly, forever changing life. 

Happy January Birthday to Brandy Bradley, Carolyn Ashburn, Donna Bond, Greer Eargle, Wyatt Alan Pace, Irma Anderson, Paul Aaybe, Phyllis Arrington, Kenneth Justus, Cheryl Harbin, Avery Lena Mintz, Connie Scicluna, Ann Dudley, Charles Conner, Kristin Mode, Susan Parke, Rodney Gibson, Caroline Thompson, Lisa Reece, Susan Bigley, Frank McNutt, Joel Kirby, Spencer Curtis, and Alison Jayne. 

Feel free to contact me at bbardos@gmail.com, (828) 817-6765, P.O. Box 331, Saluda, NC 28773, Facebook, or visit bonniebardos.com