Last weekend, these fabulous booties took me to outer space! Not really, but they did take me to a place which is as close to the final frontier as one can get with feet are still planted on Terra firma -Stargazing!
My fascination with celestial bodies began, oddly enough, while I was in basic training some years ago. After 4 am reveille, and a mad rush to get dressed and make it through one's morning ablutions, there wasn't much else to do while standing in formation on the grinder (the place just outside the barracks where we put in formation) at four-thirty on a cold Wisconsin morning, while your Recruit Division Commander (RDC), due to lack of sleep, sheer delight in terrorizing recruits or just pissed off at the world (the last of which was quite common) or perhaps a combination of all three, stood, just inside the doorway in the warm barracks corridor and waiting until 5 am when the chow hall officially opened and we were walked to breakfast; so in the cold, solitary moment of repose, I looked up, and as I did, beneath my recruit ball cap, I saw three stars...all in a row, that were somewhat closer than all the others in the sky. And over the next six months as I stood, morning after morning in that very spot, and the Earth and night sky with all into wondrous bodies shifted around me, I felt at peace; even when I was called away for my father's unexpected passing.
Sailors have always had a strong affinity towards those twinkling, luminous points in far off darkness. They would chart there course by the stars -to wherever it was they were destined to go, and then again, to return home. The children are each named after a constellation, so that if they ever got lost or felt like they were wandering through this journey we call life, they could look to their constellation, and always find their way back home.
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| Me & Kevin of the OAA |
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| Me & Dave of the OAA Yes, his eyes are closed because he didn't want the flash to disrupt his night time vision! |
On the Thursday on or about the last quarter moon, amateur astronomers from the Oglethorpe Astronomical Association (OAA) 'bring astronomy to the public'. Free to those who come out, they set up their personal telescopes allowing fellow stargazers to peer into the great beyond. Our night of watching heavenly bodies began with Dav whose telescope was directed towards the crescent moon. Our next stop was Dave (who built the two telescopes he brought. I was hopeful, briefly at the thought of building my own telescope, until Dave had mentioned it was, "Much like following a recipe when you cook," in reference to assembling his own telescopes. My hope turned to despair when I told him that I start out with the recipe, but when I get half-way through and realize I don't have all the ingredients, I substitute with something else. Dave said that I should probably buy a telescope instead!). He showed us the following (I am obliged to tell you, that these are pictures I pulled off the web, although I saw these images in the scope, no pictures were taken): |
| Crescent moon -wikipedia |
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| Cassiopeia (the 'W' constellation) -wikipedia |
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| Pegasus Constellation ('Box') -wikipedia |
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| The planet Mars -Whim |
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| Sagittarius Constellation ('Teapot') -OMSI |
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| Ring Nebular (remnants of an exploded star) -wikipedia |
Next we saw...
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| Globular Cluster of over 100,000 stars -wikipedia |
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| Andromeda Galaxy of over 100 million stars -Solstation |
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| Uranus -wikipedia |
I bought these boots early in 2011 from Amazon.com (at the time they had the best price and size; I like to size up in closed-toe shoes by Steve Madden otherwise I do feel a pinch!). I read the reviews carefully, and in spite of the dire warning that these beauties were extremely slippery (they needn't be wet), I bought them. One review jokingly wrote that at least when you fall, you'll look good doing so; that warning I should have heeded, because the first time I wore these, I was in Monaco, and as I was crossing the street in front of the Paris Cafe, I nearly took a nasty spill; I noticed at the time the heel had completely off the boot. I have since had them re-heeled and non-slip pads added by a local cobbler!
Baci a tutti!
Stella Notte
Friday October 26th 2012
Designer: Steve Madden
Name: Troopa
Color:Black
Style: Military lace-up combat boot
Shaft: 8 inches (20.32 cm)
Heel: 1 inch (2.54 cm)
Material: Leather Upper with lace up vamp and side zip
Do you remember the last time I wore these beauties? Check out my trip to Monaco here!
How I styled them:
With a chilly night in the forecast, layering is key! You can achieve a warm affect without having to bundle-up the first sign of frost. I wore a corduroy mini (Old Navy) over tights I bought at the market, and a wool blend tunic (also from the market) over a long tank (Target). This blanket sweater I got at Old Navy last year when they had 75% off sweaters Thanksgiving weekend. It is quite bulky, so I belted it up with another market find. The purple and pewter purse is from Target.com! SN
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