Feelings About How Everything Must End...Even Doc Martens
by Joe Donnelly
February 17, 2008 11:32 PM
I know things end. Even things we don't want to end, things we can't possibly see ending, end. Things such as my... Doc Martens.
I can hardly believe it. But it happened. It happened on Sunday afternoon, while I was up at my friend's house, sitting in his verdant backyard, watching his son splash around in a pool, and he after him (picture Dr. Evil and Mini Me, naked and in a pool), while I took it all in, talked to his wife and soaked in the dying embers of a burnished day. As I watched the breeze rustled the leaves, admired two tall pines rising up into the background and looked west over the basin and out to the sea, something elusive, like peace, washed over me for a moment.
And then, for some reason, I looked at my feet. And on my right foot was a Doc Marten boot (same as on my left), and on the right side of the right boot the leather had clearly come apart from the sole. Yes, the leather had come apart from the sole. About two inches worth, I'd guess. My first reaction was wonderment. After all, these shoes have been with me, pretty much literally, for at least 12 years. Lots and lots of mileage on those soles. And, I often wondered how long they could go. Forever, possibly? It started to seem like it was possible. Like these shoes could go the distance. But when I looked down and saw that they'd finally had it, I just sort of stared at them in amazement. I mean, shit, they had finally had enough.
And who could blame them? They've done their job. They've done more than their job. They've soldiered on through every type of terrain and weather, literal and figurative, that there is to soldier on through. If these boots were a Subaru, the only car that could possibly give them a run for their money in terms of reliability and sheer unwillingness to quit, the tachometer would have turned over about five times.
When my amazement that they finally gave out passed, and my quick assessment of all that they've been through flashed through my brain, I chuckled and held them up in a salute, hailed my friend and his wife to take note of this momentous occasion, and took some heart in the fact that they lived a full life. Then, I wondered...what do I do now?
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Comments
There are 5 comments posted for this article.
With all due respect to contented Subaru owners, my Honda Civic is a year older than your Doc Martens, is closing in on 150,000 miles and shows no signs of quitting yet.
Posted on February 18, 2008 1:27 PM by Scott Foundas
Odometer.
Posted on February 18, 2008 4:46 PM by Anonymous
what about a cobbler?
Posted on February 18, 2008 8:52 PM by rena
Mmm ... peach cobbler. My favourite.
Posted on February 20, 2008 3:32 AM by Mel
Joe, I would love to take you shopping for a new pair of shoes! Barneys, OK? You'll be lookin swell!
Posted on March 10, 2008 11:27 PM by Jane