Growing up on a little farm, rain boots -- the old-fashioned, black or brown knee-high, slip-ons -- were a part of life. Wading through a foot or two of mud mixed with livestock droppings without them wasn't my idea of a good time. Since the rain boots' purpose was to be covered in nasty gunk most of the time, why should they be "pretty?" It's not like I was trying to impress the cows.

Not so today.

After months of rain, I guess rain boot designers decided it was time to make a fashion statement. Rain boot shelves were filled with pink, purple, red, turquoise, orange, yellow and every other color. The boots, both flat heels up to spiky, high heels (yeah, I'm wading through the muck in those), featured animal prints, galaxies and stars, houndstooth prints, hearts, ribbons, bows, dragons, flowers, plaids, and other designs. No joke, those boots had more colors and stuff on them than a NASCAR vehicle.

The new trend caught on. I have several friends who bought multiple pairs to coordinate with their outfits. Heaven forbid the boots got dirty! Seriously? Could those fancy boots not be hosed off and turned upside down on the porch to dry?

I recently bought some new rain boots myself. I passed right by some pink and purple polka dot ones my friends would love. Instead, I got the plain, knee-high, brown rubber boots.

The way I figure, they're all brown when they're covered in mud, so why spend the extra $25? Besides, I can use that for my make-up. Lord knows I need that worse than pink rain boots!

Happy birthday Tuesday to Kaleb Parsons of Sadler; Earl Brownlow, Nickie Harrison, Bob Straw, Doris Hale, David Whitt, Natalie Softly and Terry Tate, all of Sherman; Alexis Tocquigny Dedeyan of Champigny, France; Ernest James Chumbley of Las Vegas, Nevada; Sally Harris and Natalie Bullock, both of Luella; Jackie Cox of Denton; Cindy Jones of Longview; Kacie Maxwell of Leonard; James Caplinger of Gober; Ashley Orsburn of Collinsville; and Faye Grigg.

Happy anniversary Tuesday to JD Moore and Gwen Moore of Savoy, 58 years.