the shoes

A bit of a Holloween, Days and Nights of the undead, Surf story...

in the backyard for weeks
covered in mud
the result of my son’s nocturnal roaming
thru the back bay mud

It was irritating,
a good pair of regulation
size 10's
Vans
going to waste

I have worn out
many pairs
over the years

The blue suede ones
in high school
as much as a uniform
as the red ones were that
I wore busing tables at the Cannery restaurant
my senior summer
(I had long hair and had to wear a wig to work
but that's another post)

Immortalized as the prefered footwear of surfers in
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Vans have been around for ages (Founded: March 16, 1966)
One of there big draws was they came in different colors and materials,
other that blue and white canvas Keds or Converse
Surfers are hip and unique individuals
so we all had to have something different on our feets...
They had a store right across the street from my high school
the shoes held up well,
and the box was useful
My seashell collection currently resides in one on my closet top shelf

Vans were indeed my shoe of choice for decades
I'm partial to the two tone blue slipons...

So
I wouldn't
let
these shoes go to waste

First I soaked them
in a bucket
for days

but alas

they would never be
snow white again

So and idea came to me
as all ideas do
during my morning
caffeination

I am a sloppy
coffee drinker
and I know
it stains everything in its path
stains it good

so in full Cyrus Sutton DIY mode
I would use a half pound
of the weird espresso
to stain them
a nice
mocha brown

after a week in the coffee bucket
no change!

They were

the shoes

that wouldn’t

DYE!

(ohhh scary)

RIP James Van Doren co founder of the Van Doren rubber company.