Mario Strim
Paramedic Boots.
Today I was cleaning up around the house and picked up my favourite pair of Danner leather work boots. They are scuffed up, faded, malodorous, and have a dampness that I haven't been able to shake for many years. The soles have no useful treads on them, the zippers no longer zip, yet they mould to my high arched feet magically. They are simply, perfect. I have been issued newer, shinier, drier boots but continued to wear this pair.
These Danner work boots have taken me to many strange places; crack houses, mansions, raves, the bowels of malls, french fry factories, homeless shelters, hyperbaric chambers, native reservations, and sewer treatment plants. Not to mention all the regular places a Paramedic goes on a daily basis; nursing homes, ER's, ICU's, Cath Labs, malls, urgent care centres, low income housing projects, schools, apartment complexes etc.
I think back to the countless hours of work I've done in these boots, both early day shifts and seemingly endless night shifts. On the bad side; shootings, stabbings, motorcycle and automobile collisions, suicides, overdoses, industrial accidents, drownings in bath tubs...the list goes on and on. On the good side; delivering babies, successful cardiac arrests, and diagnosing and treating acute myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) in the field and transporting patients directly to surgery (Cath Lab).
Where I am going with this is simply that my Danner work boots have officially reached the end of their working life. If they were human they would be in a vegetative state. Before I pull the plug, I thought I'd give her one last hurrah.
Strobist Info: Nikon D200, ISO 100, f/4, 1/250 sec, Alien Bee 800 at 1/4 power, 10 degree grid flying above the boots.
See more on the blog. www.mariostrim.com
Paramedic Boots.
Today I was cleaning up around the house and picked up my favourite pair of Danner leather work boots. They are scuffed up, faded, malodorous, and have a dampness that I haven't been able to shake for many years. The soles have no useful treads on them, the zippers no longer zip, yet they mould to my high arched feet magically. They are simply, perfect. I have been issued newer, shinier, drier boots but continued to wear this pair.
These Danner work boots have taken me to many strange places; crack houses, mansions, raves, the bowels of malls, french fry factories, homeless shelters, hyperbaric chambers, native reservations, and sewer treatment plants. Not to mention all the regular places a Paramedic goes on a daily basis; nursing homes, ER's, ICU's, Cath Labs, malls, urgent care centres, low income housing projects, schools, apartment complexes etc.
I think back to the countless hours of work I've done in these boots, both early day shifts and seemingly endless night shifts. On the bad side; shootings, stabbings, motorcycle and automobile collisions, suicides, overdoses, industrial accidents, drownings in bath tubs...the list goes on and on. On the good side; delivering babies, successful cardiac arrests, and diagnosing and treating acute myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) in the field and transporting patients directly to surgery (Cath Lab).
Where I am going with this is simply that my Danner work boots have officially reached the end of their working life. If they were human they would be in a vegetative state. Before I pull the plug, I thought I'd give her one last hurrah.
Strobist Info: Nikon D200, ISO 100, f/4, 1/250 sec, Alien Bee 800 at 1/4 power, 10 degree grid flying above the boots.
See more on the blog. www.mariostrim.com