My love affair with Smartwool; continued

I'm flying* from New Orleans to Houston on a completely empty Southwest flight. There is plenty of space to stretch out, make yourself comfortable, and let the dogs breath. My dogs are breathing. And they are happy. Very happy. They have a pair of Smartwool light hikers on. That is my definition of happy feet.

*This passage really was started on the flight; I have no idea when it will finish itself, but it likely won't be during the 32 minutes of electronic usage time I am currently enjoying. (Note: I'm only talking to you because I left my new Scientific American at home. It is the Origins issue -- and I cannot wait to wade into it. Andy: have you read it yet; is it awesome?)

The light hikers haven't been the sock of choice for the past two years though. I actually haven't bought a new pair of light hikers* in at least that long. Why?, because I've been living in Houston. They came out today because I was going to have on the steel toes and wanted to treat the feet during the plane ride.

*Do you own a pair of Smartwool light hikers? I hope you do. If you are my friend, I sincerely hope you have a pair or eight. If I don't know you, I hope that you own a pair. Even if you are a jerk, I still hope that you'll treat your feet. Why?,** because they make your feet happy. Put on a pair and I defy you to tell me that your feet are not instantly happier. If you are a complete jerk, I defy you to not be less of a jerk wearing light hikers. (Can someone tell me if all those negatives came out the way I intended?) Seriously: they are euphoria in a legging. Light hikers are the crack of the hosiery world.

**The ?, is a bit of punctuation that has been needed for a while. First off: it completely baffles the grammar checker and you’ll notice your CPU speed dramatically dip as MSWord tries to figure out what’s going on. Second: if you are going to be running around asking me “Why?” in the middle of my story, then what makes you think your intrusion deserves any more than a fragment? The ?, allows the fragment retort with the disguise of a complete sentence. Perfect.

And my happy feet have me thinking about November; about the end of autumn and the beginning of winter*; about sitting next to a fire with a fleece blanket, a hot tea, and a book; about how my toes like to brag to their cousin digits that they will never know the warm embrace of the light hiker.

*Wait a second. Autumn, Winter, Fire? You live in two season Houston: hot and hotter. True. But that's going to be changing and it is going to be changing pretty soon. I'm looking to move to Providence, RI at the end of October. The why is a story that can be summed up by me telling you I will now be working out of my company's Massachusetts (Boston area) office. The office is actually closer to Providence than Boston; and after living in Texas for two years, this Delaware boy needs to find himself back in a small state. Daily border crossings that don't require air travel: Boo-yah!

But enough about job relocation and new work assignments - let's go back to talking about my feet. You know what they have all over greater New England? Hiking trails. It's true. Know what you should do when you set out to do some hiking? That's right - smack on the Smartwool*. Now you're getting the concept!

*I gotta be honest SK, a big part of me wanting to write this was piece was the thought of you laughing at my summertime volleyball wool socks. Don't fear; my feet have been in wool pretty much the entire time they have been socked in hot Houston. Plus, I'm not sure if the V’s know that I'm moving. Anyhow, I am.

If you just read that side note to SK, you've ascertained that I'm a bit of freak about the wool socks. You are also pretty nosy. Actually, I'm beating that you figure out the freak part by sentence three of paragraph number one; so, thanks for sticking around. I do love the wool sock – guilty, and I'd honestly prefer to wear nothing but. Wool socks and Tevas: yes please. Wool socks for a workout: yep. Wool in the hot & humid Houston summer? Yeah. What can I tell ya that you don't already know*: I'm a freak.

*You may not know that it is time to power down all electronic devices. Well, it is.

And with that, I am bringing this announcement that I’m moving to Providence (exact locale yet to be determined) to an end. No, it didn’t really seem like a moving announcement to me either. However, that was its original intention – inspired by my feet being happy. I hope to be in New England on a somewhat regular basis by the beginning of November 2009. If you are looking to get me a house warming present – I wear a size large.