Checking for spiders, scooping out stones, there are only so many reasons to look inside a shoe.

Unless you drive up the dusty, winding Kitseguecla Lake Road 30 km west of Smithers, over several cattle guards to see the iconic sa国际传媒渟hoe house.sa国际传媒� There, you might wonder about the bootsa国际传媒檚 interior decorating and if the owner spends most of his time in the heel, toe or ankle.

Hundreds of people stop at the shoe house at 23135 Kitseguecla Lake Road every year sa国际传媒� a Moroccan vacuum cleaner salesman based in Vancouver, a Buddhist monk, others from countless countries who owner Toby Walsh has at times greeted in Spanish, Mandarin or Arabic.

Other times, Walsh doesnsa国际传媒檛 feel so much like talking.

sa国际传媒淧eople ask, sa国际传媒榃hysa国际传媒檇 you build it like a shoe?sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� Walsh said. sa国际传媒淚nstead of going into the whole rigamarole about it now I just say Isa国际传媒檝e got a shoe fetish or a foot fetish, and they donsa国际传媒檛 ask any more questions.sa国际传媒�

Inside the shoe house

Whether they get the real boot backstory sa国际传媒� that one thing led to another after Walsh replaced a leaky roof for his trailer, curving it in the front sa国际传媒� or the fetish farce, few visitors get to see inside. But 10 years after Interior News last the enchanting structure, the man who lives in a shoe waved a reporter over the toe welcome mat made of stone and granted a full tour.

Walsh used to sleep in the ankle, but at 73-years-old the ladder up from the heel has gotten a bit tricky. Now he sleeps on a mattress in the toe.

Right where he lays his head he has a statue he refers to as sa国际传媒渕oose mother,sa国际传媒� based on a beautifully adorned wedding dress he bought at a flea market in Kuwait. He fit the dress onto a mannequin, found a moose skull on the property and a wig at the dump. He used a pair of his work gloves for the hands.

The rest of the trailer is minimalist. He spends most of his time in the other structures that make up the 13-acre sa国际传媒渟mall villagesa国际传媒� that surrounds the shoe, particularly in his workshop.

Surrounded by a sa国际传媒榮mall villagesa国际传媒�

Walsh walks with a staff now and complains of sciatica pain, but he is also quick to describe what projects hesa国际传媒檚 working on. Currently in his shop he is painting compressed air tanks primary and secondary colours to make a larger-than-life wind chime. To get different tones from each tank, he is cutting off the bottoms to different degrees.

The walls of the active shop are lined with what was mostly missing from his house sa国际传媒� stuff. A plaster of a Big Foot footprint he found in California, a model of an elephant house he was planning to build before he ran out of money, a photo of him dressed in Arab clothing that he made into a postage stamp, handheld science experiments like an hour glass with a magnet and iron filings that he let children play with when he was a teacher.

Walsh couldnsa国际传媒檛 build his elephant house, but the workshop was a dream of his, realized within the past decade.

When Walsh isnsa国际传媒檛 in his workshop, hesa国际传媒檚 likely in his library, another converted trailer donated by a neighbour within the last 10 years.

sa国际传媒淭here are times when I donsa国际传媒檛 have a clue what I should be doing with myself and when I get that lost feeling I go over to the library,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淓ither read some of the books or rearrange things.sa国际传媒�

Like the proposed culture centre in Smithers, the library structure is also an art gallery.

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It is filled with etchings by Walsh and his sister, and other collected works; a prized Persian rug made of silk so when you walk across it, the colours change; ornate, animal-shaped locks from his travels in the Middle East; and multiples of souvenirs from other places around the world, which he gives to friends, along with an estimated 4,000 books.

sa国际传媒淚 find a volume I havensa国际传媒檛 seen in a long time and I sit down, and I start reading and I get lost. About two hours, I leave,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淪till donsa国际传媒檛 know what to do with myself, but I donsa国际传媒檛 feel bad about it anymore.sa国际传媒�

Dodging the draft, the Middle East and escaping military action again

Originally from the Bay Area in California, Walsh first came to Canada in 1972.

He said he came sa国际传媒渢o see what a winter was like,sa国际传媒� but truly he was dodging the Selective Service System, the Vietnam War draft.

He had stayed in university for seven years, hoping the war would end, sa国际传媒渂ut it just kept going.sa国际传媒� So, he came to Smithers to squat.

sa国际传媒淲e lived in an old log cabin up on Hudson Bay Mountain, where you go up to the ski hill,sa国际传媒� he said, referring to himself and a former female companion who now lives in Hazelton.

sa国际传媒淭here had been a log cabin, trappersa国际传媒檚 cabin, and nobody was living in it so we just moved in, fixed it up and that was our first place in Canada.sa国际传媒�

After a few months they ran out of money and Walsh went to Prince George to get a work permit. Instead he received landed immigrant status.

sa国际传媒淏ack then it was quite easy to get your immigration into Canada,sa国际传媒� he said.

He moved to what would become the shoe house in 1980. Then, in 1999 he was looking for work again.

A lawyer had helped him get his draft evasion charges dropped sa国际传媒� the same lawyer who helped the husband of folk singer Joan Baez, he said sa国际传媒� and he decided to cross the border to attend a job fair.

sa国际传媒淚 travel with my FBI file showing that they dropped the charge because I didnsa国际传媒檛 want to go to the war in Vietnam,sa国际传媒� he said.

He got three interviews out of the fair and all of them were for teaching jobs in Kuwait. He taught for nine years in the Middle East, hunting in the desert for geodes and fossilized seashells, until the time came to evade military action again, when the United States invaded.

sa国际传媒淭he school closed down and they let the teachers skidaddle out because they didnsa国际传媒檛 know if the missiles were going to come in with nerve gas or not. I figured it was time to leave,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 much like getting caught in the middle of a war, I mean if you donsa国际传媒檛 have to.sa国际传媒�

Retiring to the sa国际传媒渘ever finishedsa国际传媒� shoe house

He came back to Smithers around 2009. With just one more year to work before he could retire, he got on the substitute teacher list and commuted to Hazelton, and was back to work on his shoe house.

He replaced the welcome toe mat because the original one rotted out in the rain. He replaced the laces with fire hose because the original rope wore out after 20 years.

After receiving an estimated cost of about $8 a foot for the same type of rope from a store in North Vancouver, Walsh sa国际传媒渇igured $800 for a shoe lace was going to be too muchsa国际传媒� and a woman from Prince Rupert suggested fire hose. Lucky for Walsh, the fire chief in town was a fan of the shoe and so was his son, so he donated two 50-foot rolls of old hose. The fire hose laces went up around when Walsh re-roofed the house, about four years ago.

This spring, hesa国际传媒檒l be replacing the batteries in some of the 270 solar lights hesa国际传媒檚 hung from trees on both sides of his boot, inspired by gardens he saw in the Middle East.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 like having the stars down at eye level,sa国际传媒� he said.

He also plans to write to the Canada West Boots company regarding another trailer hesa国际传媒檚 acquired.

sa国际传媒淥ne friend suggested that I paint the container to look like a shoebox,sa国际传媒� he said, adding that hesa国际传媒檒l offer the company free advertising if they agree to do the paint job.

sa国际传媒淭here is no container on the [inter]net painted to look like a shoebox,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 hoping that theysa国际传媒檒l bite on it when I write to them and I get enough money to have paid for the container.sa国际传媒�

Walsh may have started the shoe house in 1980, but hesa国际传媒檚 not finished yet.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 never finished,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a life-long endeavour.sa国际传媒�

karissa.gall@blackpress.ca
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