boots

When I stop by the chimp house, I am occasionally greeted by chimps excitedly waiting to play, groom, or go on walks, but the majority of the time, the overall vibe is one of indifference. I can pop into the foyer, grab a package or some receipts, and head back to the office without garnering much attention. The other day, however, as I stood in the foyer, I could hear Jamie stomping on the floor in the playroom. She often does this when she can see something she wants in the kitchen from her limited vantage point in the playroom loft.

I was pretty sure she wasn’t trying to get my attention. I never stepped foot in the kitchen, had no food on me, and was wearing the same old black rain boots that I always wear around the farm this time of year. Still, she kept stomping. As I walked into the chimp area to see if I could figure out what she wanted, she let out a low moan and raced down to the floor where I stood. She extended her fingers through the cage towards my boots. Then I remembered…I was actually wearing a different pair of black rain boots – ones that are, to my mind, very similar and virtually indistinguishable from a distance to most people. But Jamie is not most people.

There’s a lot going on here. First, there’s the fact that she can discern the subtle differences between plain black boots from a distance of 70 feet. Second, it’s clear that she has a pretty good memory of the boots she has seen me wear for these to be viewed as so novel and interesting. And finally, there’s the unanswerable question: Why does she care about boots so much?

As someone who owns two pairs of nearly identical boots, I’m not sure I’m in any position to question or criticize anyone else’s interest in footwear.