There are certain professions where good quality work boots are a thing of necessity. Being publisher of The Vicksburg Post is not among the list of those professions.

But while I do not necessarily need a pair of quality work boots, there is one boot in particular that I am incomplete awe of.

I am in awe of its durability, it’s toughness in all weather conditions, it’s ability to take a beating from everything nature can throw at it, while at the same time standing fast at a constant barrage of pebbles, rocks, debris and other road materials.

For those who find themselves stopped at the red light on Oak Ridge, preparing to turn left onto U.S. Highway 61 South — and I know there are a lot of you, I see you every morning — you know the boot that I am speaking of.

Laying off so quietly next to a concrete median is a boot that has been there for no less than six months. Through heavy rain, ice, hail, blazing summer heat and the one freezing day we had this winter, that boot has remained firmly placed against the median.

I simply do not know how it does it. I am sure there are those engineers amongst us who could provide some logic to how this boot has endured, how it has not been washed away by the what seems like unending weekly wave of torrential spring rains.

But, even when I know that an overnight storm has washed it away, there it is, just standing its post at the intersection of Oak Ridge Road and U.S. 61.

The morning and evening traffic has prevented me from getting any closer to the boot than just a quick photo with my cell phone. But, I think knowing any more about the boot would just ruin the legend.

There will no doubt be a day when that boot is gone, and that is a day I don’t look forward to it.

If you happen to be in the area of Oak Ridge and U.S. 61 any time soon, maybe stopped, waiting on the red light to change, take a photo just in case it’s gone tomorrow.

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Tim Reeves is publisher of The Vicksburg Post. Email him at tim.reeves@vicksburgpost.com