Daily writing prompt

Tell us about your favorite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you.

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Before our youngest son was born, my wife and I took our oldest son to the zoo. After a family trip to the Great Smokey Mountains, we trekked to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. The weather cooperated, and we were all very excited. In my excitement, I tried to dress to impress and did not consider that there are approximately 5 miles of walking paths before you get on the tram that takes you to your vehicle at the end of your day.

My wife (who is not only beautiful but is a lot smarter than me) questioned my choice of footwear, but I planned my outfit that morning to ensure that my shoes matched my shirt. I laced up my gray suede chukka boots, jeans, and color-matching shirt, and we were off for the day.

I realized a couple of important lessons that day; after walking about half a mile, being fashionable didn’t matter as much as comfort. The other happened with each fashionable step. With each arduous step up the hills of the zoo, the discomfort seeps deeper. The rigid soles of the chukka boots relentlessly offer no comfort to my tired feet. The steep incline taunts my spirit, and with each painful step, the lesson of my wife being right reverberated through my mind down my spine to my legs to the ankles to the feet to the toes. A mismatched struggle of pain, guilt for not listening to my wife, and joy in my son’s eyes made for an awkward day.

The extensive walking and uphill terrain slightly soured our experience with the Asheboro Zoo. It’s beautiful, but wow, it is a lot. Also, don’t get judgy. Our oldest has been to the zoo since then, and we have taken our youngest to multiple aquariums and plan on taking him to the zoo this year. I can hear the haters coming. I also learned that fashion was not quite as important as comfort. And most of all, I know to listen to my wife because some boots are NOT made for walking.

Images:

Tram by DiscoA340 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127978708

Entrance Sign by Eleazar – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10670532

Lions by Asheboro Creative from Asheboro, USA – North Carolina Zoo, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64754924