Merri Travels

Farewell, Dear Friends

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Wednesday June 17 2009

Farewell, Dear Friends

There comes a time when it's time to let go.

They've been a long time on this earth, they are well past their prime, and they've long served a great purpose. But their performance is no longer what it used to be and they no longer fulfill their purpose up to their potential.

These great Kerrits tights were hand-me-downs from another endurance rider who probably recognized the GOODWILL stamped all over me, and she passed on her already worn Kerrits to me. I gave them a good home, wore the BeJeezUs out of them for many more years, until the fabric got thinner and thinner, and then so thin there's no patches that would stay on them.

I have a few newer pairs of tights, but they just aren't the same as the faithful old good pairs of Kerrits, who've been with me through thick and thin, rides and falls, good weather and lightning, travels near and distant.

It's the same thing with old shoes - you know how it is. I had a pair of Vasque Sundowner hiking boots that I finally retired and replaced after 10 hard-working years. I threw the old pair in the garbage. And pulled them out before the trash got picked up.

After wearing the new ones for a couple of years, I finally admitted I could throw the old ones out. So I did... and once more pulled them out of the garbage, and have kept them since. They are now at least 16 years old, and have a place in my closet (or on my feet) for life. (They are actually hardier, and made better, than my new pair.) They still go out on hikes in the summers and in the snows.

However, it's time to move on to my newer tights. (Maybe like this pair. Although I always make sure I'm riding a horse that won't put me in the hospital, because if you wear a wild pair like this, you should at least look like you know what you're doing.)

It's time time to let my old friends go. Farewell, Dear Friends.