These are my feet in my work boots. I wore them to milk the goats and work in the garden when it was muddy. It must have been muddy because I have my jeans tucked into my socks. I don’t remember any stripped socks but there I am wearing some. The rocking chair used to rock on Nanny and Poppy’s back porch.
In 1978 we lived in rural Simpson County, Mississippi with our 4 children, some chickens and some goats. While looking for a photograph of my feet in my work shoes I came across this batch of negatives which included a photo of my shoes.
In row one, we have my friend Teresa’s son, Palo, holding his baby sister. The baby’s father is holding her in the next. I cannot remember their names right now. Picture three is my family plus Palo. Last are baby and father again.
In row two, I’m outside with my three oldest daughters, Jilo, Ife and Ayanna. Next two photos are of our friend Robert with his and Ruth’s two children. Robert got us started with milk goats and rabbits. He had a very good herd of milk goats himself. Last is the photo of my shoes.
In row three, we start with Robert and children again. The ghost photo has their two and our three oldest. Next, my midwife, Ruth, is reading to my daughter, Ayanna, who she helped to deliver. Last, I’m reading while holding baby Tulani.
The three older girls are in the side strip with the baby crib my mother and her siblings used and all of my children used. Except for Ife who slept in a dresser drawer. You can see baby Tulani best in the bottom row dribbling milk. The house was built on stilts and was about 10 feet up in the air. I do not know why they built it like that because it was in tornado country with no water to flood anywhere nearby.
For more photographs click below. Some will be shoe related and some will not.
I love those old boots! Of course those socks too! I like how you shared your negatives…very creative…wonder if I still have any of those.
I remember sending a copy of this or a similar photo of my footwear to my sister and she did not love them 😛 I’m sure she is more open minded now.
The boots may have seen better days but I’ll bet they were comfortable. They look like my pair of safety boots that I wore for gardening until they dropped to pieces.
They must have been comfortable and easy to get on and off and kept out the water.
How wonderful to have these negatives. It does make you wonder why the picture of your boots was taken though doesn’t it? It seems you only had one striped sock, and one plain , so you must have had another pair just like it 🙂
The photo of your boots is my favorite, though I enjoyed seeing your family too.
I like the one of my boots too. We had several of my feet in work shoes. I think the other one was better but I can’t find it. Of course, I know my family and remember those friends so I like those too. I always find it interesting to see when a photo was taken and what was going on in my life at the time.
Nell, I don’t think I had another pair like that.
What a fun post. Work shoes always show more character. I’ve saved several of mine to use as tool holsters around my workshop. There is an evolution of shoes that start out as Sunday best and slowly (or sometime quickly) descend to Saturday shoes, work shoes, gardening clogs, and finally “why don’t you throw those old things away?” shoes.
That is a good idea. I don’t have any work boots these days but my husband has a pair that would make good tool holders.
It is a very nice shot of your boots. A shot that someday, a long time from now, family will look at and wonder what it was about those boots and socks called out for a photo. They will long for the mystery of the boots to be told.
Maybe they’ll wonder what the story was, why was a 30 year old woman raised in Detroit was sitting in a little house in Mississippi with a bunch of children and goats and wearing work boots. Guess I better start blogging that story.
Kristin, this is a priceless post! I thoroughly enjoyed see your family and friends and your boots … your memories are fun to read about too. It reminds me of when my kids were little.
Kathy M.
Amazing how fast the time has passed. At the time it didn’t seem to be going very quickly at all.
I loved the photo of the boots and the 1 striped sock. There’s definitely a mystery as to why the photo was taken and also what ever happened to that other sock.
Nancy
The other sock must have gotten a hole in it. No mystery in the photo being taken. who could resist my feet in those shoes??
I also love the photo of the boots with the two different socks. At first I thought you didn’t have any laces on them, but it looks like you did. I used to wear lace-up work boots until i discovered Muck boots.
Nice old boots did a good job! When one lives in a rural area, a garden to look after animals to care for it needs a pair of sturdy boots; yours are perked up with fancy socks! Nice to remember.
The soil was clay so it was muddy after rain. One fancy sock anyway.
It’s easy to see the love and wear in everything we use…..!
Plenty of wear in these shoes for sure.
It looks like a multi-coloured sock, you obviously didn’t want to overwhelm with wearing two:)
Ha! That must have been it.
I just love how you’ve displayed the negatives; that is so cool! What fantastic photographs they are too! I’m glad you told us they were your boots in the first shot; I would never have placed you in those, and at that occupation. I envy you though, as I would love to have the opportunity to milk any farm animal!
It was one of my dreams – to have 6 children, rabbits and milk goats. I was ready to give up the milking of goats after 8 years of it though.
Wonderful for today’s theme. When I was in Belize we stayed in homes on stilts. They told us it was because it was so hot, no A/C of course, that it made for better air circulation. The home we helped repair had a pit for cooking under the house and the floor above had been scorched so bad we were there to replace it. There were no doors or windows covers in the house either. Quite an experience.
QMM
We had no A/C either but I don’t know about that air circulation thing. We did have a stove in the house proper and did have doors and windows and finally an indoor toilet too.
This photo is perfect for this week’s theme. I love the boots, the mismatched socks, the rocker, and especially the broom and the fly swatter, which would have been necessities in Mississippi summers.
Great picture! It reminds me of how bad the mud was in the late winter and early spring when I was growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania. I also remember one time when my children were young and we were visiting relatives. The three-year-old managed to get stuck in the mud and his brother ran into the house looking for someone to “rescue” his sibling.
I guess that wasn’t so funny at the time but since he was rescued, it is kind of. When they were paving our road there were a several mud puddles after rain and I remember going down by the church with my children and all of us stomping around in the mud. Without shoes. singing loudly “It’s a treat to beat your feet in the Mississippi mud!”
Pne of the great joys of scanning old negatives strips is the ongoing story they tell just as much as the individual images. When I look at some of mine taken forty or fifty years ago, the proximity of shots on negative strips reminds me of events or journeys that followed on from each other. A glimpse at your negatives is fascinating.
Alan, that is just what I like about looking at related negatives.
I see you had one of those phases, a return to the earth, like so many around here.
Hard to imagine you milking goats though…
You seem to me a tad more sophisticated than that.
:)~
HUGZ
I was described as sophisticated when I was 6 months old. I’m pretty sure nobody has mentioned me and sophisticated in the same sentence between then and now. I will have to do a post about milking goats and killing chickens and raising the best garden ever some day. Now I have to get ready for my morning walk. Sophisticated? Wonder how you are picturing me and what you mean.
Mentioned this to my sister and husband this morning – me being too sophisticated to milk goats – and they both laughed semi-hysterically. They think you must be confusing me with some of my old family photos.
Then I guess the joke was on me.
I figure I was fooled by your pictures and discourse,
missing on the rural lifestyle completely…
I’m now looking forward to your version of the “green acres”.
I’ll play Zsa-Zsa, if you don’t mind.
I am a true urban guy!!
My friends joke enough about that,
thinking when I go to the country,
They have to let me smell exhaust every half hour
for safe measure.
🙂
HUGZ
I really miss being in the country. We’ve only been back in the city for 4 or 5 years. Too much exhaust. I don’t miss milking goats though. I used to like to walk around in the city.
Bravo to the picture-taker for REALLY seeing the potential story of those boots.