“Elegance” is a word seldom associated with me. I wish it were, but after all these years, I’m still waiting for it to happen. Godmother-with-the-magic-wand, you’re late.

I was never all that into ‘shoes,’ and in fact, I never wear them unless I have to. Shoes are the first thing to go when I walk into my house, I really don’t notice other people’s shoes unless they’re sporting something truly bizarre, and until a few years ago I had no brand loyalty whatsoever.

That changed when I discovered Minnetonka.

Back in college, everybody had Minnetonka moccasins; we built them ourselves from that mail-order kit that came with oddly-shaped pieces of leather, a lot of leather thong (no, not THAT kind) and a little notecard of instructions.

But now, I wear Minnetonka loafers almost every day, and it’s like being barefoot, it truly is. These babies are so soft, so incredibly SOFT, you can actually wad them up in your hand.

They look nice enough to wear to school, and they feel so good that sometimes I forget to remove them when I get home again.

I’ve got three pairs: black loafers, brown loafers, and brown high moccasins with laces. That sounds weird but these shoes are sooooooooooo comfortable. . . . .

Actually, I’ve had the moccasins for so long, I really should invest in new thongs. I’m not all that observant, and anybody who knows me can tell you that my sense of ‘style’ is pretty lame, but when a shoestring is so broken and knotted that you can barely find enough length to tie it, it’s time to replace it.

Really, the only thing that’s remotely ‘awkward’ about my gorgeous super-comfy Minnetonkas is that it’s a little hard to tell the left from the right, just by glancing. Most shoes have that definite ‘curve’ but these don’t.

Not that I would ever leave the house with my shoes on the wrong feet. Wrong feet? They’re MINE, aren’t they?

The only thing sadder than that would be having students point it out before you realized it yourself.