I just noticed that the heels on my boots are almost worn away to almost nothing. But, I can’t take them to a shoe repair shop (does anybody say cobbler anymore, or is that just so Pinocchio?), because I only have one pair with me and even though they are wet and worn down, I still have to wear them!

But, don’t fret, because all my issues are First World problems.  The rest of the world should be so lucky.

I can’t go out and buy another pair of boots here because, for starters, I have longer feet than any Italians you might meet!  I recently moved from Florence to another unbelievably beautiful spot known to the world as Lucca. And, because it is my hope to return to Florence forthwith after a trip home to see my boy and other miscellaneous things, I left a lot of my stuff in Florence with a friend. Including other boots and shoes.  Because I wanted to travel light, you know.  So, in my disciplined packing, I forgot to factor in that it is winter in Italy, which apparently means a lot of rain (who knew? Google? probably. Didn’t think to check that before I left things in Florence. Dumb, dumb, dumb). So, predictably, I expect, it is raining gatti e cani here.  I have a new understanding of the word “cold”.

So, you see how I outsmarted my own damn self, don’t you? Packing light. Torrential rains. Winter. Extra long feet. You get the picture?

I don’t have a photo of my well-worn boots, but they are riding boots, sort of like this one above, and may I just say that the they are truly gorgeous. There is a lot of irony tied up in my boots that you wouldn’t think about at first glance.

Because, to begin with, these boots were made in Italy, but since Italian women don’t generally have long narrow feet like mine, this size of Italian boot is not generally sold in Italy. I bought mine in Seattle at Nordstrom.

And, on top of the irony, there’s a whole lot of history tied up in that last paragraph. When you think about the rich heritage of the trading and bartering of goods that has been a part of human history reaching as far back as we know it, the mind starts to bend.

The history of commerce is the one thread of the human story that every sentient being lives with all the time because, of all the things that humankind has invented, nothing has ever trumped currency. And the one currency that all people desire is money.

Think about it.

Because, as a very wise man once said over a gorgeous dinner in Morocco one night, “we all know she is right.”