Strange Shoes

The cycle to work and back is an interesting run for me. There is a lot of countryside to go through, so lots of animals, flowers, trees, birds etc.

There are also some interesting gardens too. This shot is from one of them.
The house is one of those extremely large mobile homes, that has set up a fixed position, there are a few on my route to work. It is a nice place, well established and clearly loved and cared for.

Yet I still find it interesting/amazing the way in which people choose to decorate their gardens. In this particular place they have a nice little gazebo, lovely table and chairs, children's play things too. Then they have this, a garden fence.

A garden fence with pairs of shoes nailed to it.

Still struggling to work this one out and I've ridden past it for four years now. It is clear that they started with a pair or two, perhaps as a joke, perhaps as a way of remembering/keeping their children's first shoes, or perhaps because they are artists and saw this as an interesting installation.

Then as the children grew, so did their feet, and the shoes no longer fitted them.
"What shall we do with our Henk's shoes?" a bemused father asks whilst trying to find storage space. "Oh for pity's sake Willem, nail them to the fence for all I care!"

And so they did. Many times over. Without a doubt there are many more to come.