These Boots

Outside stepper boots

These days and the snow is on its way again, I get workouts several times a day putting on my boots and taking them off again when I come back inside.  Used to be Jerry did snow blowing and had his one pair of boots here on this mat sometimes he just walked in and out with his regular boots on and was not changing, but not me.  I have inside and outside footwear.  And as I am the one with outside duties, minor shoveling because we pay for plowouts; trips to the mail box down the driveway daily, sometimes twice if I put mail out for pick up; and depending on the week trash or recycle bin hauling down the driveway and then later retrieval.  I do not wear my inside shoes out there and this winter invested in these  two  different but heavy durable boots for winter, heavy soles that prevent me from slip sliding when it is glazed or icy.  And a pair of older clogs that do if it is just a quick easy trip down a clear driveway.  It does get tiresome changing shoes daily for this and that.  . 

Newest standing tall grey leather walking boots, short tan
leather Clarks on the shelf now in their 5th year. 

Uggs and sideways my favorite brown high boots

Oh, I have  plenty of other boots too that I wear out and about to church, to shopping, errands and to the Y where I change again into tennis workout shoes. These next two photos are either side of the  closet where the shoes have their own wall but the boots are now out for the season and stay nearby on the floor for selection.  I think a couple pair are my favorites, the tall brown leather boots because I have worn them for years, had the heels replaced at the shoemakers, fortunately we have such service  here.  I wore those boots in Europe all over in 2015, they  have traveled well and have seen a lot. And then there are my Uggs, of which I have always a couple pair for winter, two short ones, one pair not shown here the short new tan ones but the grey pair, almost worn out, standing on the floor.  Those will not be put back up onto the shelf this spring.   And those high Uggs, dark browns are just great in the wintry weather especially with skinny jeans or tights.  They are so warm.  The only thing is I do wish they and the  shorties had more of a heel, they are all flat and I do prefer some elevation.  Still the warmth of Uggs cannot be shrugged off. I am fortunate to have this huge bedroom walk in closet, some friends here say it is bigger than their bedrooms, and so it may well be.  But that allows me plenty of space to rebox winter boots and store them away on top the shelves until the next winter. Having so many gives me the options and so many of the boots last and sometimes I  just tire of them or realize I will not be wearing them like the high heeled ones I brought from CA and donated.  That high of a heel is just not for me any longer although I still admire spikes heels...Past memory.    

  Ahh, it has been so cold I almost wish it were March, but as time goes so fast I will not wish it away, just  endure the winter.  Someone asked me the other day how many boots I had and I  really do not know anymore than how many pair of shoes I have, or how many sweaters.  All I know is, can never be enough, there is always a new pair or two to add each season.   I have an aunt and a cousin, her daughter who count everything they have down to pairs of socks, underwear...I always thought that strange but Aunt Pearl says she has always counted her things.  

Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass.....

view out front

It is a clear vibrant blue sky, but bitter cold day here with high of 12 degrees and we have reached that.  I  had to run an errand uptown and I use the term run freely, I drove, too cold for me  to walk let alone run, it is too cold for me to get out there and shovel the other front walkway and more snow is on the way tomorrow.  Well, people can use the other front door, the steps closest to our garage and enter through the hallway into the kitchen instead of the living room.  I often wondered why we had 2 front doors on this home, but in this weather that is a good thing.  If the  rest of the walk is not cleared, no problem, people can enter in the first door and if someone is insulted, not my problem, get over it. .

Not a track nor a bird in the bush

I bundled up in my newest parka and head  cover, mittens I purchase in 2015 in Austria when Carlie and I were on our Danube Christmas markets cruise.  Sadly she passed suddenly over a year ago and with her, my international travel partner.  Just walking acrosss the street to the parish office from the school lot this morning was a wake up!  As I returned home and looked at our snow I noticed something most unusual for here, no tracks, not a squirrel, rabbit, deer mark to be found, not even a bird in the bush.  All critters have hunkered down against this tundra wave.    .

An old saying came to mind today, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey"  and having not too much to do, I googled it and learned interesting information about the source.  https://www.grammar-monster.com/sayings_proverbs/freeze_balls_off_brass_monkey.htm?fbclid=IwAR0SbVlCBE5crQ0uLcd-lQctA0GZ1-STNf2all0GacGC_Yz87XZUTF5whRM

If you follow the link you will learn: To freeze the balls off a brass monkey means it is very cold. now that I knew.  But I never saw a brass monkey.....

"Early references to brass monkeys in the 19th century have no references to balls at all, but instead variously say that it is cold enough to freeze the tail, nose, ears and whiskers off a brass monkey; or hot enough to scald the throat or singe the hair of a brass monkey. All of these variations imply that an actual monkey is the subject of the metaphor, with balls being the surviving phrase.

It is widely believed that a brass monkey is a brass tray used in naval ships during the Napoleonic Wars for the storage of cannonballs (piled up in a pyramid). The theory goes that the tray would contract in cold weather, causing the balls to fall off. This theory is discredited by the US Department of the Navy and the etymologist Michael Quinion and the OED's AskOxford website for five main reasons:

·         The Oxford English Dictionary does not record the term monkey or brass monkey being used in this way.

·         The purported method of storage of cannonballs (round shot) is simply false. Shot was not stored on deck continuously on the off-chance that the ship might go into battle. Indeed, decks were kept as clear as possible.

·         Such a method of storage would result in shot rolling around on deck and causing a hazard in high seas. Shot was stored on the gun or spar decks, in shot racks (longitudinal wooden planks with holes bored into them, known as shot garlands in the Royal Navy), into which round shot were inserted for ready use by the gun crew.

·         Shot was not left exposed to the elements where it could rust. Such rust could lead to the ball not flying true or jamming in the barrel and exploding the gun. Indeed, gunners would attempt to remove as many imperfections as possible from the surfaces of balls.

·         The physics do not stand up to scrutiny. All of the balls would contract equally, and the contraction of both balls and plate over the range of temperatures involved would not be particularly large. The effect claimed possibly could be reproduced under laboratory conditions with objects engineered to a high precision for this purpose, but it is unlikely it would ever have occurred in real life aboard a warship.

(Thanks to T.W. Hanna for this entry)

A Competing Theory

In the past, war ships carried iron cannons, which required cannon balls nearby. The cannon balls were stored in a square pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four, resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. In order to prevent the sixteen balls from rolling away, a metal plate called a monkey with sixteen round indentations was secured near the cannon. As iron rusts quickly, the plate was made of brass. Whilst the rusting problem may have been solved, brass contracts much more and quicker than iron in cold weather. As a consequence, when the temperature was extremely cold, the brass indentations would shrink and the cannon balls would roll off the monkey. The temperature was therefore cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. "

And there you have it, we do what we can to entertain ourselves inside in the arctic here.  But above all we are thankful for a warm comfortable home, and endless projects to keep us entertained.