Perhaps I have mentioned that I’ve lived in New England for the last, oh, 10 years or so. It is cold here.
These are my wicked good slippers (they really call them that in the catalog) from L.L. Bean. I wear them whenever I’m in the house and not in bed, whenever it’s winter. Which means that I wear them about 18 hours a day, 300 days a year. What?
And they don’t even smell bad. This is because they are made by wood elves in Maine who sprinkle the shearling with fairy dust.
You can see that the right slipper is completely falling apart. I cannot imagine why.
L.L. Bean would replace them for me for free if I called and asked them to, but I’ve had them a long time and worn the heck out of them and don’t feel as though they owe me anything. Still, I should probably replace them. And on the heels of that thought is a second one: Don’t bother. Next winter I’ll be in Georgia.
I really sort of need a new winter parka, too. But why? This is my last real winter, and the coat I have will be sufficient for a few more months. Next winter I’ll be in Georgia.
The fact of the matter is that there’s no love lost between me and winter; not having to shovel the driveway or chip ice off the gas cap door just to fill the car up sounds like a dream come true, to me. Every chilly morning at the bus stop when one child or the other complains about the cold, I can barely keep the glee from my voice as I remind them to enjoy it while they can.
But here in the cold, I putter around my very familiar house, the house where my children have grown from babies into small, mouthy humans who start sentences with “Actually” and “Regardless” and who know how to make me laugh with a single word. I putter around this house that knows me and knows my kids in my beloved slippers, and now those slippers are literally unravelling before my very eyes.
And for some reason, painting and spackling and cleaning and sorting and pitching and everything else that is part and parcel of preparing to sell this house has been fine. I was—as I am with the prospect of leaving winter behind—completely at ease and ready to move forward and just fine, thankyouverymuch.
But when I noticed that my slippers were falling apart, I followed suit. I can sell the house. I can change climates. I can try again (I think it was Grace who told me “Ah, the second marriage! The triumph of hope over experience!”). I can change so many things… but the thought of doing all of that without my trusty slippers was, for a moment, too much to bear.
I’ve decided to wear them as long as I can, but not replace them when they go. I don’t know what I’ll wear on my feet during my days in the house I cannot yet picture in a land I barely know. I think that I rather enjoy being barefoot, when it’s warm enough. I almost don’t remember. But I think I will very soon.
Happy Love Thursday, everyone. May you embark on your own adventure that is equal parts excitement, fear and faith.
Duct tape! Seriously! ;)
or should that be DUCK tape? :D
And that – is a beautiful post.
Why do we read you again?
Oh yeah. That!
: )
Hey, yo wait. Can’t Otto fix them? :)
Even in Georgia, floors can be cold sometimes, and popping out to get the newspaper in the morning can leave the feet chilly. Get some slippers. You’ll be glad.
The parka, on the other hand, you can do without. :)
Hey Mir! Get a repeat on the slippers ’cause you’ll wear them in Georgia too. The parka may very well be required as well. I live in sunny Southern Georgia (yes I know Georgia IS southern but I mean SOUTHERN Georgia which is 4 hours south of Atlanta – at 80 mph, and very nearly on the Georgia/Florida border). Right now it’s 43 degrees at 06:00 (wakey wakey for the school bus kids!) which is fairly nice since we’ve had a few days of freezing or below. Even here it hits 29 some mornings. We moved from New York 3 years ago and I thought I was done with the whole “winter shminter” thing too. HAH! It may only get that cold for 3 weeks but MAAANNNN that’s a long 3 weeks. I live in my Beans so get yours replaced and come on down!
You’re gonna love it here!
Oh man, Mir. Only you can make old falling apart slippers beautiful. Damn it!
I love “triumph of hope over experience”. What a great thought. And yeah, I agree. I can’t think of anyone else who could write about disintegrating slippers and turn it into such a beautiful post.
Though I’m not a Southerner, I know people who’ve relocated, and it seems to take no time before they acclimate and start saying things like “Brrr!! It was only SIXTY FIVE degrees this morning when I woke up!”
Better get some new slippers . .
I’m in north Florida, just a few miles from the FL/GA border, and yes, you will need to replace the slippers. It might not be as cold as where you are now, but going barefoot year round is not possible either. The key to the weather down here is to dress in layers, taking them off as needed as the day warms up. Good luck!
New slippers for the new house in the new city beginning your new life…it’s a must!! I mean, since you can get them for free and all.
Mir, that was gorgeous – how do you make old slippers sound so wonderfully nostalgic? Replace them or bronze them, but don’t give up on your slippers!
Awesome post. Good luck in your new life!
I’m in Central Texas, and even I need slippers throughout the winter. Granted, it’s mostly because Knight doesn’t want me warming up my tootsies on him… but the real point is that my feet do get cold.
Get the slippers, especially since you love them so much and (doh!) they’re FREE!!! Yay for FREE slippers!
Awesome writing, as always. And I was once caught in Georgia (McDonough, to be exact) during a sleet storm and really really really would have given anything for a pair of those slippers.
But everyone else already said that.
On the other hand, they’re just slippers…
That was a very nice bit of writing. Oh, and do get the replacement slippers!
Mir, that was lovely.
And my dear, the body gets used to milder weather. I may have grown up in upstate NY like you, but I now wear two layers of thermal undies in California, to make it through the cold, cold temperatures.
HA! De-lurking to say that I am in Tennessee I AM that person who complains that it is ONLY SIXTY FIVE degrees out!! :)
Here’s yet another Southerner chiming in to say that we do so wear slippers south of the Mason-Dixon line. So maybe you wouldn’t wear them quite so many days of the year, but even if our “bitterly cold” equates to your “a bit nippy” there is such a thing as winter in the South.
Besides, there’s no better deal than free, and LL Bean owes you for the free advertising.
Thursday’s a good day for me to tell you I love reading your writing.
You have succedded in making Thursday my favorite day of the week.
I’ll be glad to buy you a new pair of slippers. Even if it’s not cold in Georgia, there will be times when it feels good to wrap yourself in nostalgic footware. You can wear them while making me pecan pie.
I have 20-some-year-old down REI slippers, given to me by a prior sweetheart. (Nothing says romance like a chunky pair of slippers. Hey, maybe THAT’S why it didn’t work out. Well, that and… But I digress.) Anyway, they are showing their age. Jules called it–inside one slipper, on the sole, is indeed, duct tape.
Now I need to learn how to spell…and type.
Boy…a lot of advice. I’m going to add to it, with a dissenting voice. Quit rolling your eyes and mouthing “of course,” Mir!
Keep the slippers. They will be a lovely reminder of a good life that got better. Keep one of the kids old sweaters/coats/blankies… whatever, to take out and remember your cold, snowy winter mornings when you and/or the kids get homesick.
And I’ll tell you, my second marriage has been the sweetest thing in my life. You might find, as I have, that the bad before has prepared you for the beauty that awaits.
Or that all men, everywhere, leave socks and underwear on the bedroom floor. Whatever.
This is beautiful. And as a person who moved from cold New England to a more temperate climate, let me add my voice to the chorus of people advising you to get new slippers. I’m in San Diego, and I wear slippers at this time of year.
You’re going to love Georgia. Where they wear slippers. And complain about the chill when it’s 65 degrees. I’m homesick just thinking about it…and you’ll always have your memories of NE to keep you – well, not warm. But you’ll always have them! ;)
First time reader- I found you on a blog roll and added you to my “Weekly Blog Watch”.
How fitting that I would come here to read such a glorious post first time out?
I will spend some time reading your archives…getting to know you.
Hope to see many more like this.
I give you one winter in Georgia until your body acclimates itself and then when the temperatures hit the low 60’s you’ll be scrambling for those slippers. You better replace them.
Hey Mir – I just want to add another voice to the chorus: It does get cold in Georgia! Just not as long or as bitterly as New England. Soon your blood will grow thinner and thinner, and you too will be complaining about this rotten 40-degree weather.
Keep the slippers. Sell the house.
Love the post!
Georgia does get cold! You might have to scrap ice off of your windshield sometimes! I would hang onto those slippers!!
Keep the slippers, they’re not dead yet! And go barefoot, especially if your new house has wooden floors. It feels wonderful.
Yes, new slippers. You don’t want to step on a palmetto bug barefooted now, do you? ;-)
Yup, get more of them. I wear slippers in my house in ARIZONA in winter… and yeah when it dips below 70. What? I have thin blood.
Your last line made me cry. And I don’t have PMS or anything. It was just beautiful. That is all.
What a nice post! Enjoy the slippers and the winter…and we’ll miss your presence in New England when you go. But then, that is the beauty of blogging, eh? You’ll never be too far away.
You’ll have to find a new kind of slipper to go with your new house.
xo
LBC
Maybe when you get there, part of the celebration of your new life there will include a new slippers that are just right.
Happy LT.
What Deb (and others have said)… you will need slippers. Deb, I think you and I must be neighbors!!!!
I absolutely must agree with all your readers who said get more slippers. You will need them. After one cycle of the seasons, you will be acclimated and 40 degrees in the morning will have you warming up the car for 10 minutes before you go somewhere. I promise! Also, I have the slippers on my feet right now and my toes are thankfully toasty and comfortable. It is 54 outside, but I NEED my slippers.
Just you wait.
Once again, I am called here on the whisperings of a these-are-things-on-your-feet post. How do you do that anyway? Do you send out a Shoe Vibe?
You’re amazing. ;-)
Beautiful post. It’s hard when things change…even if they are changing for the better. And yes, some transitions are easier than others. Thanks for stating that so well.
Okay, I have lived in VT all my life and I can not imagine moving to Georgia. The heat…the humidity…God love you Mir, for risking heat-stroke and attacks by giant cockroaches and palmetto bugs to be with the man you love :)