fishing boots

7 April 2005

One of the first things we were told was to get some waterproof footgear. It was the last thing I thought I’d buy first. They’d recommended gear from the Bass shop. I swear to God they meant fish. It made sense to me: fishermen need waterproof shoes. I resolved to find a bass fisherman’s catalog and find me a pair of durable, and waterproof, bootsies.

Then I talked to Karen. She cleared the whole thing up with a trip to a part of Monterey I didn’t know existed. “Bass,” she told me, “is a shoe company.” She didn’t know anything about fishermen. Neither did the employees in the store.

While Karen found a pair of dark coal calf-highs, I coaxed a pair of black, waterproofs onto my feet. Man, were they comfy—and a brand recommended by a RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). I walked around in them, imagined the snow that would eventually be caked into their tread, and debated the $70 price tag. Karen did the same sort of debating.

Then, during my short walk across the crisp, blue carpet, I ran into a sign. Neither the kind from God nor the kind a catcher might send to his pitcher. Something made of paper and decorated with raised, red letters. It said:

Clearance.

50% off.

Now, all of the socks in our future will be overjoyed at today’s decision: We’ve got ourselves some boots.

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Thanks to Scott for this link:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/billandtaralyon

This link is to the Yahoo group of one of his couples he recruited. They are in Azerbaijan now. They’ll be headed back a little after we head out. Apparently, they lived in Rohnert Park. Small world….

Anyway, the half of the couple with the name of Will said this in response to doubts about his—and his wife Tara’s—decision to join Peace Corps:

"All fear is fear of the unknown. That’s why horror films suck the second time you watch them, you already know what’s going to happen next. You are nervous about us going because you don’t know what’s going to happen to us while we are there, not because it is actually a bad idea. The reason why life is so exciting is because we don’t know what’s going to happen next. "

Now, while the last sentence doesn’t make happy out of the bang up we did with the Highway 101 median just north of Cloverdale, California, it does provide an idyllic view of strong, sometimes seemingly foolhardy, choices.

I guess people were nagging the guy because of the choice he and his wife made to join Peace Corps. We’ve been lucky. We’ve had a lot of support—and been given a lot of wait time by Peace Corps to get used to the idea of us being gone.

In my opinion, however, horror movies suck the first time through.

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Another very cool link from Scott:

http://www.abbyrowe.com/

I just read _Angry Wind_ by Jeffrey Tayler—RPCV! He traveled through this area. I can’t wait to read her experiences. She seems like a very good writer. I gotta send her a care package. Kharma building, I suppose.

More stuff to fill up my pre-PCV life with, besides loving Karen—which I do a lot.