Finding a long-lost friend

We are in a heatwave with temps in the 100s by 1pm. I don't even bother walking the dogs until 30 minutes before sunset; the streets are otherwise too brutal for their paws. We stay at home and pant. The dogs don't want to go outside and neither does the cat. I do short jobs around the house, trying to create some order in this chaos. I have a garage full of boxes that haven't been unpacked in years. I'm finally going through the stuff.

This afternoon I came across my favorite hiking boots I've ever owned: a pair of brown Raichles (made in Switzerland) that I bought in 1993 when I was stationed in Augsburg, Germany. I paid $120 for them, which for me at the time was an expensive purchase. But after a few weeks of wearing these boots in, they became my favorite boot for hiking around southern Germany and then, when I got back to the US in 1996, around Chicagoland in the winter. Not once did I ever have cold or wet feet in those old boots.

I found my Raichles again while sorting through my army gear. The Raichles had been wrapped individually in paper inside a larger carton containing clothes. I immediately took them out, proudly showed them to Kevin, and began applying leather moisturizer to the boots, whose toe box is showing some sign of wear up front.

Maybe these will be the boots I wear in California next month? Are they still my tried and tested mountaineering boots from long ago?

I am finding other stuff as well: additional leashes, clothes from old street races I did in California, and purses and bag I sort of forgot about. I found an old pair of Precip Marmot rain pants and some other base layering clothes that will come in handy.

But nothing makes me as happy has having my Raichles in front of me.

"You have always spoken so well of those boots" said Kevin, as he watched me apply generous layers of leather lotion on them. And indeed, I don't think I've ever appreciated a pair of warm, dry boots as much as my old Raichles. Not even my old Gore-tex army boots came as close as keeping me dry as my Raichles. I've bought many a pair of hiking boots since those first Raichles, but none have even come close to comfort as those.

(Raichle was bought out by Mammut recently, another Swiss brand. The shoes are now made in Romania, Europe's answer to China.)