Wearing Brown Leather Shoes

My mom, Sybil Miner Beck was frustrated with my younger brother Ken. Ken had discovered the small stream that flowed behind my parents’ house along Route 711 near Normalville, Pennsylvania. Ken learned that he could wade, splash, and keep cool when he played. Ken learned that he didn’t need to take off his shoes and socks to wade, and that was the problem. His shoes were heavy brown leather. Once they became wet and dried, they became stiff, hard. The shoes were ruined and no longer wearable.

It was then that Mom had an idea. She decided that she would buy a pair of tennis shoes for Ken. Mom thought, “When he wades wearing the tennis shoes, there won’t be a problem. I can let them dry and he can still wear them.”

The next time Mom went shopping in Connellsville, she bought a pair of low topped, blue canvas shoes for Ken. They were navy blue, cute and were laced white strings. Ken really liked them. He liked them so much, he wore them home. I know my brother and I’m sure he sat in the back seat of the car and stared at his blue clad feet the whole way home.

The next day Mom just happened to look out the back kitchen window. She saw Ken wading in the water. That wasn’t unusual, but she could hardly believe her eyes. Ken was splashing and kicking the water. He was having a great time. The thing that surprised Mom was that Ken was wading in the water with his shoes in his hand. The socks were tucked inside and he was barefooted.

Mom went outside to investigate. She was puzzled and asked, “Kenny, why aren’t you wearing your tennis shoes in the water like you did with your brown shoes?”

Ken’s reply was succinct and filled with childlike logic, “What, my new blue shoes!”