A life told in footwear

Our vicar.  I attended a meeting of the Tuesday Club this afternoon to listen to a talk by the vicar.  It was about his life, told with reference to his footwear, ending with why he now wears "minimalist" shoes (Extra).

It was really interesting, if a little long for my attention span, and well thought through.  For instance, the large bovver boots were his footwear of choice at uni, but the "Combat boots high, DMS" were from his CCF days but which he used to walk around the outback in Oz, despite the heat, which protected him from all manner of nasties around his feet.  One story was about swimming a river to visit a waterfall only accessible from the river; on returning the same route he smelled rotting fish, a smell that he remembered from a zoo when viewing crocodiles which prompted him to exit the river before reaching a group of the creatures around the bend.

The minimalist footwear helped him to recover his walking abilities after an accident on the motorway while riding a motorcycle as a courier.

I think that he's been a vicar only a few years, having done all manner of jobs in Oz and in the UK.  We are lucky to have him, with all his experience of life.