But on a more somber note, there is a reason behind the title. If our dear US readers have not been watching the news, there was a once-in-a-lifetime storm system now being referred to as Superstorm Sandy that happened earlier this week. In a quick meteorological recap a hurricane named Sandy came straight up from the Caribbean, collided with a blast of Arctic air from Canada, and was sent due west across New Jersey by a high pressure system hanging out over Greenland. New York City and New Jersey have received the most attention on the news as both places have been flooded, and millions are without power. The American Red Cross has opened many shelters in all states affected by Superstorm Sandy, serving hundreds of thousands of displaced residents. As a Red Cross volunteer, I offer our readers an opportunity to make a donation to the Red Cross to assist in disaster relief. Simply click the image below.
Note: the opportunity to donate to the American Red Cross is purely voluntary and not a requirement to read this post or any other on What We Covet. Image via the American Red Cross.
This afternoon at work not only was I casting about for a topic for my weekly post, but I also received a call from my Red Cross chapter asking if I was available for a two week deployment to the Northeast to volunteer in a shelter. I ended up not being able to deploy, something about the hospital where I work not being able to find enough staff to cover me for the time I'd be gone. Anyway, on my way home I suddenly realized how much scrambling I would have to do in order to ready myself for a sudden 2 week deployment to a disaster. As I've been out on my own, I've become more aware of how much of a contingency planner I am. I would have to find someone not only to take over my home health clients for two weeks, but someone to look in on my cats and feed them, as well as take the food out of my fridge as it spoiled. Then my mind turned to what I would wear on a deployment.
I believe someone famous may have said something along the lines of "A woman is only as good as her shoes" or maybe it was "A woman only needs a good pair of shoes, then she can take on the world". If the second quote sounds familiar, it may have been Marilyn Monroe. Either way, I realized quite suddenly that a deployment to a shelter in an area affected by Sandy would more than likely mean a flooded or semi-flooded area, and I did not have a good pair of rain boots for such a situation. And this post began to write itself.
Ever since my years in college working in a barn, I have coveted a good pair of calf-length rain boots. I pictured myself slogging through the paddocks with a horse's lead rope in each hand, soggy or damp everywhere but my nice toasty dry feet. Thankfully, I became adept at dodging giant puddles and thus avoiding soggy socks. I still coveted rain boots from afar. I dreamt of a pair each of Hunter Wellies and L.L. Bean Boots.
Hunter Original Tall Boots used to only come in about three colors: green, navy blue, and black. They are the footwear of choice for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II when she visits her stables of exquisitely bred horses. Now they are available those three colors, plus too many others to list here. I like bright colors, and bright colors on rainy days look extra saturated in the diffused light. My color choices are Yellow, Pillar Box Red, and Vermillion (pictured below). My one suggestion for all rain boots, remember that dark colors absorb heat, so the dark colors may roast your feet.
Top: Hunter Original Tall Boot in Yellow. Middle: Hunter Huntress High Gloss in Pillar Box Red. Bottom: Hunter Original Tall Gloss in Vermillion. All images via Hunter.
The red boot is a design Hunter calls Huntress, and describes it as a boot for women with shorter and wider calves than the Original Tall is designed to accommodate. But enough of Hunter's functional boots. What about something with a little pizzazz?
Hunter Original British Wellington in Gold.
The Brits seem to enjoy incorporating their patriotism in nearly every aspect of fashion, and somehow they manage to pull it off simply effortlessly. These are some boots that are meant to be seen. Personally, I always envisioned tucking my jeans or pants into my Wellies, primarily to keep my hems dry. If I have one pet peeve, it is wet hems. C'est la vie. However, I realize that not all readers of What We Covet are prepared to tuck their pants in to their boots.
How kind of me, then, to also discuss an option for those who wish to not show off their rain boots. Should you, gentle reader, find yourself agreeing with this statement I proffer L.L. Bean and his Bean Boots.
The original Bean Boot. Image via L. L. Bean.
While L.L. Bean's boots are not calf-length or completely rubber like Hunter's, they are lighter and just as nonslip as Hunter's. Leon Leonwood Bean created the Maine Hunting Shoe in the early part of the last century, and the Bean Boot as pictured above is a shorter version of the Maine Hunting Shoe, still available on the company's website. They also have the Bean Boot Rubber Moc, which I consider a perfect camping shoe.
Image via L.L. Bean.
Whether you choose the Bean Boot, the Rubber Moc, or any of the other L.L. Bean styles the quality is impeccable. Your hems will still be wet, but to each his own. L.L. Bean was a man who valued function over fashion, and thus no fashionable Bean Boots exist. Well, except for these cute little skimmers:
Image via L.L. Bean.
The best part about these skimmers? They're on sale, as of this posting! Snatch up a pair and wear them for me, as I can't keep a pair of skimmers on and walk at the same time.
Find accessories such as special boot socks at each store.
Once you find the right pair of rain boots for you, you too may find yourself wishing it would rain more.
~Bonnie~
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