Either my feet have grown, or my boots have shrunk. Or possibly they have always been too small.

But I don’t think it’s the latter, because I don’t remember them hurting quite as badly as they did on Sunday. I’ve felt a bit of pressure on my toes going downhill, but on this last walk they were uncomfortable almost all the time.

In any case, my old boots definitely do not fit any more and I went to buy new ones.

I came home with a pair of size 40 boots! Of course boots need to have more extra space than normal shoes, but still, I’ve never bought any footwear with the size beginning with a 4.

The Internet tells me that feet don’t really grow after puberty, but they can flatten as ligaments stretch and loosen. That was kind of interesting. The Internet also offers advice on how to stop your feet from flattening, which seems to consist entirely of things I would never let anywhere near my feet (arch support! shoes with stiffer soles!) so I’m going to ignore that part.