Glory Fade

 

 

 

So, yeah ... it's finally be time.  Time for the old Faded Glory shoes to give up the ghost.

They've been a faithful companion for far more than 20 years.  They've gone through thick and thin, been glued together at the sole, at the heel and elsewhere at least a couple dozen times over their lifetime.  They've weathered mud and rain and all sorts of weather.  Each gouge and scuff mark tells a story.  There are places where they're threadbare, the anterior heels are worn down to a nub. The material lining the insides of them (what little of it is left) has long since frayed and given way to almost nothingness.

 

Surprisingly, the soles of the shoes themselves are not that worse for wear. 

 

 
Regardless, one more gluing, one more repair, one more modification to keep them wear-worthy just isn't in the cards.  You can see the repairs I've made to them everywhere, all sorts of different glues oozing out the heals.  The rubber of them is has actually begun rejecting mending and restoration.  I'm pretty certain that time last year when I chased an escaped dog for a mile and more was truly the start of their ultimate demise.

 

They've housed many different feet, hundreds of thousands of steps, an extended life that should have seen them tossed many moons ago. 

 

So long, old friends.  You've been faithful and true ...

 

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )