Paul Oberjuerge: Farmer Giovanni Hits Town

So, it snowed last night, right? Lots of it. 4-5 inches.

It was turning to slush even as I left, but all night I'm thinking it's gonna be wet and messy on the streets and sidewalks today. One of the US Olympic Committee publicists even wrote a big e-mail about the slush and the floods in the gutters when the snow melted, early in the month.

SO, I got out those clodhoppers of mine, and strapped them on ... and clunked out the door with them.

I now remember the reason I don't wear them. The reason aside from the fact that they weigh a lot, are too loose and make me walk funny.

They're ugly and not fashionable.

These are mostly made of rubber, a sort of dark green. Then they become leather, around the laces area.

People actually have LOOKED at my shoes. With curiousity. Local people. And those aren't looks of jealousy. I've decided they think I'm a farmer, or something. Like, maybe these shoes are what Italians wear when they're harvesting cranberries or milking the cows. And now that I look around, nobody is wearing shoes/boots anything like these. Especially not in the city. I'd like to think people actually DID wear shoes like this, maybe 2-3 Olympics ago, when I bought them. But probably not.

I should have stuck with the tennies. No running water anywhere, hardly any puddles, either.

I just cannot dress for bad weather. I don't have the clothes, and I don't have the wit, and 6,000 miles from home, I don't have the options, either.