If The Shoe Doesn’t Fit

by Rosalie Stanley

Did you ever have a hard time parting with a pair of shoes? Maybe they were your child’s, maybe they were yours, maybe they were a parent’s. I don’t know about you, but I have.

My daughter has always been a horse woman and boots have always been part of her daily wardrobe. Between her and the horses there were too many worn out shoes to count.

On numerous occasions when her boots were well worn and new ones purchased, I would keep the old ones stashed away. I’d also keep the horseshoes (up to 12 every six weeks for three of her horses.) A type of hoarding? Who knows! In any event I ended up with a bunch of old, worn out boots and horse shoes sitting in the garage. I couldn’t throw them out because they had so many memories. But why keep them?

One day while visiting my daughter at college we decided to check out some nurseries in Central California. We were strolling through a wonderful little nursery in Solvang, when we came across some concrete cowboy boots with succulents planted in them. They were very expensive even without the succulents, but were interesting to look at. As usual, bells went off and I thought I could do the same with Jenna’s worn out boots.

When I returned home several new garden features were created with my little girl’s old boots. A barbed wire wreath with little boots and horse shoes was hung on a fence. Some boots were just thrown in among the plants. A special nook was created in memory of her favorite horse, Harry. These boots were planted with succulents and some type of air plant. All in all, they fit in quite well and were a reminder of the many miles Jenna had walked or rode on a horse.

I think you could use just about any type of shoe. Red high heels with a little succulent growing out of them would be cool. Any shoes that are too worn to pass on to another are good candidates. Use your imagination and throw your old favorites out in the garden.