boot scootin'

I think it was in the seventh grade or so when I got my first pair of cowboy boots. They were super-cool for 1993, white (fake I'm sure) leather with some sort of fringe on the sides. I don't exactly recall, but I most likely begged my mother for them so that I could wear them when we went to Libby's for some live music and two-steppin'.

Note: I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of that place. Kept wanting to call it "Dollies", but that was a strip club just across the Tennessee line where several people I knew acquired employment. Anyone who was at Murray State during my tenure knows that place was legendary. But anyhoo..

I always had a blast when my folks would take us out to Libby's on Saturday nights. We'd have some food and we'd watch the bands play just a few yards from the stage. We were the priviledged few who sat in the Beaver booth.

Oh, you heard me. The Beaver booth. My mom was a sales rep for the local country radio station, The Beaver 101 FM. I don't think I knew that the word beaver was a double entendre until I was in high school. Folks down here in Texas think it's a hoot whenever I talk about it. Especially their annual remote broadcasts called The Show Us Your Beaver Summer. That one always gets a big laugh.

So, yeah, we'd all sit in the Beaver booth and listen to the sub-par acts do their covers of Garth Brooks, Patsy Cline, and Alabama songs. Saturday night was the good night. Fridays were open mike, so anyone with a sequined jacket and a microphone could get up there and belt out, "These Boots are Made for Walkin".

That's pretty much what I think of when I think of my first boots. I bought my second pair today, after weeks of soul-searching and trying to figure out if I wear a 6-C or a 7-B. By the way, thanks mom. I can credit your genetics for my having to search high and low for a boot that is wide enough to accomodate my goofy pinkie toe knuckle.

Oh, these bad boys are sweeeeet. You can't tell from the picture, but the crocidile skin on the front is actually a greenish color, not brown. And I dig the little copper studs all around it. They make me feel like a real Texan. Yee-haw. Definitely an upgrade from 15 years ago.