Well, off work tomrrow with the lay off, and for once thankful for that, for my fever has incresed---gosh, the sweat was pouring off me at work tonight. Everyone was commenting on my red face. Ah well. I was hoping it was just menopause, but apparently not. Meh--who cares? Really, I shouldn't even bother blogging this, I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing off all my ailments. An ex-blog friend told to me, that she bascially thought that I was a mental hypochondriac (which is one of the big reasons, she's no longer a friend--there's just some boundries of politeness that a casual friend should know better than to cross. Apparently, this one (repeatedly) did not, despite my hints.

But, I suppose, in hindsight, she might have a point. I do talk too much about my various ailments--but trust me, they are "in my head," Anemia can lower one's immune system considerably. Diabetes and hypertension produces other complications, and a long cold winter, and too much heavy lifting as well, can bring out old arthritis and back pains...and some new one's, as well.

I used to be health as the proverbial horse, got loads of exercise, and all that palaver--but since my foot injury, walking is really tough, some days--I do it, but I have to say that it's no longer for pleasure--or a pleasure either. I do it for needed exercise, or just for some fresh air. Rambling is now completely out of the question--oh, I might still do it, but it would be a slow process, so I couldn't do any long rambles any longer--more's the pity. I did love a long ramble in the country or up a mountain. Ah well, those days are gone...not even sure I could manage it on horseback, now. :roll:

Not that I'm complaining, mind you! That'd be really churlish of me, because I'm all too aware, believe me, that I could well not be walking at all--that's how close I came to messing up my foot...and my back, all those years ago.

I used to go rambling every Sunday...up at the crack of dawn, lace on my Sears Roebuck Czeh-made work boots (lovely things they were, too), my jeans and flannel shirt, and trusty cowboy hat. I'd hike two or three or four miles--with the dogs when they were alive, by myself in my mid-20's. Out on my hike, I'd pack a light lunch of cheese and crackers, bit of pepperoni sausage, maybe a little tin of peaches or an apple, and some tea or lemonade...and my journal and maybe a book of poetry, or a copy of Emerson's essays...and my binoculars and trusty Guide to North American Wildlife (thank you T., by the way!).

Oh gosh, I adored my boots though. No, really. They were so incredibly well made, that I never once ever had to break them in--and they lasted and lasted--in ten years, I only went through four pairs...and balanced? Heck yes! I felt like I could walk up the side of a tree in them...not that I ever tried, mind you...though I did do some vertical hiking up a few very steep canyon-like ravenes. They had something you rarely find in a work or hiking boot any longer--the base around the foot, where the stitching is--which almost always today, is of manmade material, was on those boots--wood. Yup, those old Sears boots were just the most comfy and perfect boots ever made, in my opinion. They're no longer made that way, in fact, the closest manufacturer that makes a boot like that, that I've EVER seen, is Chippewa 8-inch work boots, and, unlike the approx. $25 my boots cost, in the 70's and early 80's..comparable boots today, run around $100 to $200!

They had steel toes--which once saved me from a crushed foot when a harness race horse I was holding by the foot, suddenly leaned his entire nearly 70 stone weight on top of me--I let go out of self-preservation, and his hoof came solidly down on my left toes--all 70 stones of that weight...dented my steel toe boot, and, fractured my foot, and to this day I still bear the scar. But...if I'd been wearing trainers, I shudder to think of what would have happened. It hurt, but not as bad as it would have, if that steel toe hadn't been there!

They were also insulated, which meant, that besides using them for rambling and riding and barn chores, I also used them for snowshoeing, come winter. Very versatile, those ol' boots.

Funny, but when I wore them in high school, the girls used to make fun of me...ironically, in the 90's, suddenly it became fashionable for girls to wear work boots--uglier one's, I made add, than mine ever were. For once in my life, I was ahead of my time, fashion-wise. :))