It started innocuously enough: a pair of Barn Shoes – or maybe they were Mowing Shoes or Chore Shoes; they were, in any event, Old Shoes – that found a home under the end table by the door. They just didn’t fit anywhere else: putting them in the closet with the Good Shoes would have made them hard to find later due to their difference in duties, and there isn’t yet a designated Old Shoes closet.So the Barn Shoes gained what was supposed to be temporary residence under the end table by the door. But they were lonely, and as you know, when Barn Shoes are lonely, they generally make an appeal to Work Boots or Chore Boots. The Chore Boots were the ones to respond to the desperate plea for company, but at this point, there wasn’t yet a problem, just an opportunity for clutter to begin.Then the Chore Boots had a great idea: tis the season for a party! The Mowing Shoes are out-of-sorts in the winter because they don’t have anything to do and they get full of spiders and other creepy-crawlies, which, while making them useful, is an insult nonetheless. Chore Shoes are a fun lot since they always go to the most interesting parts of the farm, and Work Boots always have interesting words to share due to the nature of their job. Get a few Good Shoes in the mix (especially the High Heels, which are nothing short of dusty most of the time, but really have a great spirit for fun), and the Chore Boots knew that it could be a Grand Ole Time.

Now, in their defense, it must be stated that the Basketball Shoes wanted nothing to do with this. Since so many of the other Shoes had been carefully reallocating them to the designated Party Spot at the end table by the door, they had had a chance to be unburied in the Closet. This gave them hope that they might in fact get to dominate a court again soon (not knowing, of course, as the Work Boots did, about the impending knee surgery). Due to this, the other Shoes decided that the Basketball Shoes simply would not be invited to the party.

Well, the Mowing Shoes gathered under the table in the dining room, and the Chore Shoes set about to planning the details. When the Work Boots were left in the living room, they sent word to the Shoes left in that room with the news.

Of course, as Owners of the House, we were away at work and off doing our Owner things, so we naturally had no idea. The Shoes we were wearing were part of the conspiracy, and perhaps contrived to keep us away from the house longer than normal.

It all came to a head at the end of a tiring Friday, which is a great night for a party, unless it’s being planned in your house and you’re completely unaware of it. We got home from work, only to find that the house had been rearranged in a very peculiar way: there were Shoes everywhere! Work Boots and Mowing Shoes, High Heels (all dusted off, thank you very much) and Loafers, Sandals and Flip-Flops, Dress Boots and Barn Shoes, Garden Clogs and Running Shoes. The closets were empty and the floors were full. When we did the natural thing and attempted to start putting them away, we found ourselves unceremoniously bound up and put to bed (which was OK, because it had been a particularly tiring day).

We have since learned to live with the new arrangements, although we admit to doing a fair bit of plotting when we’re at work and we’ve left our Shoes in the other room. The other day, I thought I came home and saw the shape of the house modified to look a little more…shoe-like? Well, we suppose the next thing will be for the Books to revolt and make a Mt. Everest-like stack in the living room while the Blankets decide to cuddle in places other than our bed. Ah, the joys of living in the country!