Christmas in August
Sometimes good things take a while. For Christmas, I signed up R for a pair of cowboy boots from Walker Custom Boots in Spring City, Utah. We went down and he picked out the leather and the stitching pattern, and Don built a last (model of his feet). Don says he doesn't build a pair of boots; he builds two boots, one for each foot.
We finally got out to Spring City last weekend to pick them up. The pebbly-looking leather is farm-raised Indonesian stingray, with a characteristic grey spot. The animals are raised for meat; the leather is an exotic byproduct that is absolutely gorgeous and tough as nails.
Guest greeter
Don is a fascinating guy, and one of his hobbies is hunting. He let me draw back his compound bow that he uses for competitions. Over the door sits this mountain lion he hunted, which reminds me of a story of another mountain lion hunter I met in Sanpete.
This guy sold the big cats live to private hunting preserves. He caught them (about 40 over several years) by roping them. I asked him if he weren't afraid that a cat would charge. He said, "no, they always pull." Metaphorical to something, not sure what.
Pest management
Don's shop is full of interesting but hard-to-photograph tableaux. He's got a bunch of old industrial sewing machines, a self-devised vacuum pump, stacks of exotic leather, and thousands of boot lasts for his customers. Once Don makes you a last, it's yours and only yours. R's already hankering after another pair. And don't let the pest management tools scare you off; Don's a sweetheart of a guy.
Comments (1)
Beautiful boots! He is going to treasure these for a very, very, very long time.
Posted by Jessica Stier | August 20, 2009 10:04 AM
Posted on August 20, 2009 10:04