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.
