In my book, “Whirled: Life, Loss, and Healing on the High Plains” I mention that I never made a transition to wearing western clothes after moving to Wyoming. I always feel inauthentic. So I have no idea what drove me into the Country Store yesterday to buy jeans. I ended up with a pair of Wrangler “Aura” jeans in a darker wash and a long denim shirt. The denim shirt I found is actually a man’s “tall” shirt. Women’s denim shirts are too short to wear with leggings, and they are also flimsy.

Before making those purchases I spent time going through all the women’s clothes racks. I saw beautiful western shirts, jewelry, and boots. Boots!Boots! Boots!  I saw hand embroidered, inlaid suede, and hand tooled leather boots as much as $300. Were they not so expensive, I could become a western boot addict–they are a work of art.

I probably will not go all out cowboy style when I wear my new jeans later today. That’s too big of a step. I like the idea of mixing western things into my regular clothes. I have some book signings coming up and want to kind of sort of look the part but not ridiculous! How are these for starters???