Winter Re-boot

          
Several years ago I bought some snow boots at the Tent Sale at the Wolverine shoe company in Rockford. They were smart-looking and drastically reduced. Best of all, they were my favorite brand...with a familiar name... Merrells.
           Never mind that I've been spending winters in Florida for almost a decade and hadn't seen measurable snow in almost as long. These boots were a bargain!
           And perhaps someday they would come in handy.
           I stashed them away in the guest closet, kicking myself for buying something I would probably never use.
           Well, this has been the year to reboot my winter wardrobe. Last April after we returned from Florida I had to leave my car in the shop overnight. And wouldn't you know it, the next morning when it was time to walk a mile to the shop to pick up my car there was enough snow on the sidewalk that the boots were a necessity.
            Now it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, more than a week before we leave for Florida, and I had to pull the boots out again to finish the winter yard clean-up and bring in the hose.
            There's a lesson there somewhere: Never pass up a bargain.