air quality index (aqi) is high and that's a bad thing

 

This is mostly being caused by smoke from wildfires across Canada. It's making life difficult here, but I have a lot of sympathy for those who live closer and must be impacted much more seriously.

Smoke from wildfires has been an issue every summer since we moved to NY about 3 years ago.

new boots

My last pair of hiking boots were the Merrell Moab 3 Mid Waterproof Hiking Boots (6.5 women's), which fit me pretty well. After years of use, the soles were starting to become far too thin. They aren't made of the grippiest material to start with, and their traction had gotten worse.

So it was time to get a new pair. I dislike shopping! But even more than that, I dislike ordering and sending things back. However, in the boondocks, there are few options, so I wound up ordering the same boots from REI.

I had some trepidation, since it seems that shoe companies love to tinker with shoes, resizing or discontinuing models. I was surprised to find that these new shoes fit me just as well the old ones. I'd say the fit is slightly tighter, but that's probably because they haven't been broken in yet. And the soles are stickier than the ones on my old, worn-out pair!

Farewell, old boots. You served me well.