Will the world last until Easter? Maybe, maybe not – stranger things have happened before. And besides, it’s not that long until Easter anyway. Besides, time is an oval thing, I’ve heard. The axes aren’t equal. Maybe that’s why the seasons jump around a bit. Just when summer is about to begin, there’s the worst snowstorm in a long time. Also, it’s usually considered commendable to be early. But the thing is, today I actually received the first Christmas present of the year! Yes, indeed. A Christmas present. And she was quite cheerful, the one who brought it and declared it to be an early Christmas gift.

It so happens that I easily develop a very close and personal relationship with my footwear. And good friends who have stuck with you through thick and thin, wet and dry, are not easily parted with. At least, one must try to gradually get used to the loss. A couple of times it has happened that I have been at the dumpster and rescued old, faithful friends – amid strong criticism and threats in harsh words, of house bans and worse.

But sometimes it's just over. When sudden sinkholes and persistent cracks appear in the millimeter-thin layer that is supposed to protect the soles of the feet from everything that could possibly trouble an unprotected foot, it's time to resign and let the garbage truck take what belongs to the garbage truck. Because I am a strong advocate of the universal use of moccasins – both fish entrails and party they must endure. And they do, but not forever.

Now, it's not as if I am currently wearing worn-out shoes. No, they still have good durability left. The problem is slippers. I have a pair of indoor slippers. The kind you can shuffle around the living room floor in. And they are probably not exactly new. Do you remember the old Kandahar ski bindings? The ones that had a little clip over the toe, and then a spring that tightened around the heel and held the boot in place in the bindings. If you ignore the spring, imagine the clip replaced by some thin woolen material, and then imagine something loose from the ski dangling around, partly under and partly behind the foot, that’s roughly how the old slippers look. But actually, there's nothing wrong with them. They’re not that old either, and they’re warm and comfortable. But then there are people who have set their eyes on them and decided that it’s advisable to replace perfectly functional foot warmers. Well, I’ll probably get over it eventually. Maybe. But then you also need to have a strategy ready for when the nights get long and the cold sets in. For Christmas presents in March – that is completely unacceptable, rude, and utterly reprehensible. Namely.

Now it's just a matter of finding a discreet – very discreet – place for the old slippers to hidewhen I take them off. They are just too good to go through every slipper's final journey to the eternal carpet floors. And then there's the fitting and adaption. It's particularly important to get the heel cup properly adapted for quick on and off.