Overshoes

Today winter threw just about everything it had at us. The morning started with freezing rain, which progressed to ice pellets and finally a good few centimetres of snow by evening.

Time to bring out the overshoes.

When I moved to Edmonton last winter I was invited to a party at a friend's house. Great party, gracious hosts, nice people. When I arrived my friend took one look at my overshoes and laughed. “Those are Eastern things,” he said. “We don't wear those in Edmonton.”

So as I set out this morning my friend's words came to mind. I decided to take a look at what people were wearing on their feet. Admittedly it wasn't exactly a scientific poll, just what one person could see in a 2.5 km stretch of downtown with freezing rain and ice pellets. And the same again in the evening trudging through a few cm of snow and slush.

I saw lots of different footwear.

I saw people wearing running shoes. I saw people wearing moccasins and mukluks. I saw one young woman wearing slipper-like party shoes that would have gone well with a cocktail dress (but not so well with ice pellets). Several people wore sensible-looking winter boots. Several women wore stylish-but-not-so-sensible-looking knee-high boots (often with rather precarious-looking high heels). Men in suits mostly wore dress shoes.

But near as I could tell, I was the only person on Jasper Avenue wearing overshoes.

I guess my friend was right. I wonder if anyone noticed my alien overshoes and laughed?

At least I arrived at the office, and again back home, with dry feet and clean shoes.