Art ... I've used that quote from Lonesome Dove, often!

bonnie, kat, et. al., be careful, we'll be accused of starting a birkieclique.

I bought my first pair in 1975, from a little hole-in-the-wall store in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., which was owned by a group of Sikhs. There were two styles, brown or black, leather or suede. My father said I had just rounded-out my collection of "the ugliest shows in the world." (Added them to my collection of Earth Shoes, Clark Wallabys, Famolares.)

When you encountered someone else, on the streets, wearing birkies, there was a sly wink and a secret handshake. "We" knew .....

You learned to be tuff, whenever anyone asked the question "Where the hell did you get those ugly things."

I wear mine all year 'round. Even in Alaska, I wore them all year 'round and just added wool socks in the winter. Fairbanks has very dry, powdery snow, so there was no need to worry about slogging about in "snirt" = snowdirt.

The only problem comes when, for some reason, you have to put your foot into a regular shoe, like a pump. It takes a shoe horn and lots of PAM.

Are we fanatibirks? You betcha! But we also tend to have better moods 'cause our feet don't hurt.