blow, blow, thou winter wind

shadow of the other © Raffaella Loro

The arrival of the snow was unavoidable... but there is so little of it that I don't really care so much. Maybe because right now it makes the scene from my office window more picturesque. There is finally a little more than layers upon layers of beige.

Snow means ice where I come from... and that plays a big role in what footwear I walk to work in. Out go the heels and open back shoes, in come the handcrafted Italian hiking boots (eventually). Of course the problem with business casual attire it can be hard to disguise hiking boots with dress pants. So I usually have to keep a second set of shoes at my desk. The problem is, although I have a surplus of shoes... I really only have a couple pairs that are both comfortable and work with my everday business attire. One of these pairs lost a heel on the way to work the other day (not the entire heel, just the tip) and I was quite upset that I had wrecked my good shoes. For some reason, when I damage a pair of shoes I seem to forget that I can have them repaired. However, while strolling through the network of buildings downtown I noticed a shoe repair shop within five minutes of my office. How wondrous this was... a cobbler fell across my way when I most needed one. This was not the only item of good fortune that the winter wind blew my way... more on that in days to come.