Rest in Peace..maybe

ROSEMARY HARRIS: I'm in mourning. For a pair of hiking boots. It's 4AM and I'm trying to remember if the garbage man came yesterday because I'm seriously considering retrieving them from the trash.

They're Tecnica trekking boots and I bought them at Eastern Mountain Sports near Lincoln Center in 1990. I was going hiking in Utah for the first time and I needed the real deal - no sneakers, no workout shoes. I wore them on Columbus Avenue to break them in, but they didn't really need it. From the moment I put them on it was love. From the moment I saw them. They were gray, with a little turquoise and some red - sounds hideous, but they were beautiful. And they made me feel strong. Capable. And tall.

I wore them in dozens of national parks from Acadia to Yosemite and though I considered getting new ones eight years ago when I prepared to climb Mount Kilimanjiro, I trusted my old Tecnicas and - don't laugh - I wanted them to climb Kili with me! They deserved it.

It was inevitable that I'd need new boots and I searched all over the internet for the same boots - or anything close. I was convinced that a new pair existed in a warehouse somewhere (along with the Big John jeans which were my faves and you can't get anymore. One day I'll blog about what you get when you search "Big John.") Anyway,about five years ago I bought Lowas. Very nice. German. (They know hiking.) All gray, very tasteful. What's not to like?

My old boots stayed in the closet. I loved looking at them. They reminded me of all the great places I'd been in them (don't worry...they didn't actually speak to me..)
So I started wearing them to walk the dog in the arboretum near my house. Ninety acres of woods, some wetlands, a narrow boardwalk through a swampy bit. It was perfect for my old boots - hiking light!

But this week there was a problem. Had I developed a limp? No, the bottom fell off the right boot. I looked at it in disbelief. I looked at it for two days actually before I made the decision that they had to go.

And now it's 4AM and I'm wondering if the garbage man came yesterday BECAUSE I WANT THEM BACK.

What's the thing you wish you'd never thrown out??

Tagged: Part 4

Mr. Daruma Fell Down (A Japanese Game of Tag)
How to play the game
First, the person who is 'it' (the tagger) yells to other children, "Mr. Daruma fell down!" When the tagger yells, the other children run away. Then he turns his back to them. Next he calls out again, "Mr. Daruma fell down!" After that, he turns around and looks for the other children because he has to catch them.
When a child moves and is caught, he has to go to jail. The other children have to get close to the tagger and hit his back; however, they cannot move when the tagger looks at them.
Therefore, they have to run as fast as possible while the tagger's back is turned and he is yelling, "Mr. Daruma fell down!" Whenever a child hits the tagger's back, other children can escape from the jail.
When the tagger catches all but one child, the game is almost over. In that part, the tagger is given many chances to catch the child because he can yell quickly.
When the tagger has tagged everyone, a new game starts. Then, a new tagger is selected by a finger-flashing game.

I just though this sounded fun..yelling "Mr. Daruma fell down!" I would have played this a lot when I was a kid, although the part about the finger-flashing at the end sounds suspiciously like something we used to do back in Brooklyn usually while driving and passing slower vehicles.

Ro’s Stats

1.I weight train with a NYC fireman.
2.I’ve made it to the top of Kilimanjaro.
3.Pushing Up Daisies is the first thing I ever wrote for publication.
4.I sat in a limo with Bill Clinton when he was President
5.I own over 300 cookie cutters
6.My garden was featured in Connecticut Magazine
7. I kissed Pete Townsend once.

My little twist on this? One item is false, can you figure out which one?