What would Wainwright wear?

   
     One reason soccer (AKA “football”) is a far finer game than the American kind of football is that it requires less stuff. Some good shoes and those cute knee socks and you’re ready to play. Where along the spectrum of stuff does the Coast 2 Coast trail fall?
     The first dilemma is footwear. We've tramped up and down and around a fair bit and I’ve always worn running shoes. (Known as “trainers” where we’re going.) On internet discussion boards devoted to the C2C there is impassioned debate between those who fervently believe in hiking boots, and other, somewhat fewer souls who stoutly maintain that hiking shoes (a step up from trainers, but still..) will suffice; they put spring in your step and make for greater agility. Well, they do. But the booted answer back in ominous tones, “Whut about the bogs?” Oh, there’s deep, deep muck where you're going and you’ll sink right in. Your wimpy shoes will be full of it and then you’ll wish you had on real boots! (I note that most of the voices in these discussions are male; draw your own conclusions.)
     The kind of stuff we’re talking about likes to be called “gear”. And as it happens, we have a real gear guru in the house, a son who definitely didn’t get the anti-stuff gene. He camps and kayaks, fishes and hunts and his gear is piled all over the basement and the garage. Go to REI, he said.
     Well, there they were on the shelf: soft boots, boots so soft  that don't remind me that one of my ankles was reconstructed with screws and bolts, boots so lacking in the pretension that they're big and tough that they're purple. But are they tuff enough for the boggy bits?
     They’re on probation. "Wear them around the house", I was told. I take them out of the box and lace them up, thinking I’ll wear them to vacuum. The big dog goes crazy. He’s never seen the purple boots before, but he’s no dummy. One look and he’s knows: those boots are tuff stuff! They mean we’re in for a real good tromp in the woods!  Well, who am I to doubt if the dog knows?
      The husband is not into stuff either. I hope he’ll buy rain gear, but I know he has visions of hiking along with just his trusty umbrella held aloft.