A Good Pair of Shoes

In the past five years or so, I've been wearing Merrell shoes. Merrell makes hiking shoes and boots, primarily, which is what I normally buy. I'm pretty hard on shoes, but these Merrells hold up well for 12-18 months of 6-day-a-week use and then they get demoted to yard work duty.

Some Merrell shoes are waterproof; I've had a pair of gore-tex Merrell shoes that I loved.

Apparently I'm not the only fan. Some soldiers in Afghanistan were photographed wearing these shoes instead of their normal army-issued boots. I don't know what the policy is for that particular unit, but I hope the soldiers enjoy them while it lasts.