I have made it very clear that I wear boots every day while doing everything that I do. I wear them with nice clothes that I wear to work. I wear them even with suits on the rare occasions that I have to dress up. I wear motorcycle boots while riding my Harley — always — no silly unsafe sneakers for me! I even wear boots when I do my long vigorous walks — hikers. Again, sneakers? Bah, humbug!

It is amusing to me how many people know that I’m a regular and reliable “boot guy.” I catch them stealing glances, asking themselves and sometimes voicing the question, “what boots does he have on today?”

I know that I used to post weekly “boots of the past week” blogs, but I was finding those blogs to take a very long time to construct, because it is not unusual at all for me to wear two to four pairs of boots each day — times 7 days — can be as many as 28 pairs of boots. But more likely an average of 15 pairs of boots each week. Writing about how I chose each pair, where I wore them, and including the links to my website’s pages about the boots — all took a huge amount of time that I just didn’t have.

But I digress; let me return to my boot chatter. I try hard to wear all of the wearable boots in my cowboy, motorcycle, and work boot collections.

Yeah, I admit, some of my boots are not wearable any more. I can’t wear my old Fryes any more. They just don’t fit. I really have to get up my courage to sell them. It is hard to part with my Fryes due to the fond memories they bring, but if I am not wearing them, then why store them?

I also am finding that I very seldom wear any of my Wesco boots. They are just so heavy, lunky, and hot (sometimes — why I only wear them in cold weather.) Some guys live in Wesco boots all day every day. I opt for lighter-weight, less bulky boots.

Interestingly enough, I find that I am still wearing my Dehners more often than I thought that I would. The Dehners look great, feel good, and still fit (well, most of them.) Again, it’s hard to part with a pair of boots that bring certain memories.

I keep promising myself that I will seriously go through my boot collection and cull boots from the herd that I don’t wear, don’t fit, or I do not like. But I always find other things to do. I have to focus and do this… sometime.

Meanwhile, I smile and giggle on the inside when…

… sr. pal who I brought some groceries to yesterday looked at me, then my boots, and said, “those are shiny boots!” — looking at my Chippewa Firefighters that I happened to be wearing with a pair of leather jeans.

… guy at work who never really speaks to me, but I see him checking out my boots every day as I walk past his desk. On Tuesday, he got up and followed me down the hall, ostensibly to go somewhere else, but along the way, he was watching my Tony Lama pecan caiman cowboy boots. Those are nice boots, I can understand why he was looking at them so intently.

… close friend who commented on a photo of me on social media, “you don’t own any athletic shoes, do you?” Yep… that’s right. I am publicly “out there” as a man who only wears boots.

So today as I pulled on my denim jeans and Chippewa Arroyos cowboy boots to wear to work on “dress down Friday,” I thought, “comfortable.” I also thought “safe” because it is raining today, and those brick pavers between the parking garage and the front entrance to my building get really slick.

Well, that’s today’s “boot chatter.” Tune in later for another chapter of “how these boots roll.”

Life is short: wear boots!