Summer. As a little kid I would go barefoot for days in the summertime. Hopping and running across the hot street as fast as I could to my friends house. The long grass tickling my toes as we ran around playing tag and red light green light. The inevitable sunburn on the top of my feet that Mom would put Noxema on to sooth the burn. The slippery feel of the bottom of the pool. The chill of the garden hose as my Mom made me rinse my feet before coming in the house.When I was a tween we moved to the outskirts of a rural Colorado town on the desert plains. Lots of cactus, clay, and other prickly ground weeds. We lived on dirt roads, and had a long driveway with river rock. I would condition my feet to walk on the river rock up to the mailbox, and tip toe through the field to a friend's house, but some of the charm was lost.
When we moved to New England and I experienced the softest feel under my feet. The ground felt like a soft sponge. The grass was a light cushion, and even the weeds (mostly moss) felt pillowy under my feet. I wear slippers to keep my ever cold feet warm in the winter, but as soon as it got nice I kicked them right off! I love going out to hang laundry in my bare feet. Or walking down to the pond with Polar with naked toes. It feels so simple to have bare feet. I can disconnect from the chaos that is my work life, and get in touch with the earth and with my home. It feels good :)
I went to the nearby lake on one of the hottest days of this week. Feeling the hot sand of the beach, the warm sun on my piddies, and the cool sand in the water squish between my toes felt so relaxing. I think I cried louder than my friend's kids when it was time to go home ;)
May you have many carefree barefeet days this summer.
8 comments:
I am a barefoot girl at heart! Nothing makes me happier than walking to get the newspaper on a weekend morning in barefeet with coffee in my hands. At work, I have to settle for sandles. Happy Friday!
Bare feet rule! As a kid I always had bare feet, too!
Your beginning childhood barefoot experiences sound much like my own.
As a child, I generally had three pairs of shoes in my closet (unlike now!). There were my black patten Mary Janes for wearing to Sunday School from Labor Day until Easter, at which time I switched to my white patten Mary Janes, which I wore until Labor Day. I also always had a pair of 'tennis' shoes. They were made of canvas, and usually white, though I do recall some black ones. Though never intended for tennis, which I didn't play, they were worn for every other occasion in which my mom insisted I must wear shoes! ;-)
Nice walk down memory lane! I also am a bare-footer. Did you ever pop those tar bubbles with your toes and then have little black splotches that would only come off with lots more bare-footin'? We used to run on dirt roads bare footed! Aaaah, life was clearer then!
I am now a proud owner of a Ped-Egg.. I'm ready for the world in my bare footed glory!!
O.k. Barefooted friends... Anyone know what a Ped Egg is??
I think you got me Paula!LOL!
Jessica- Sounds heavenly. I think I'll go get a cup and take a wander... I have to trade my bare piddies for Ugg-type boots being New England and all...
Renna- I think we had the same shoes growing up! How I loved my Mary Janes...
Don- I had forgotten about the sticky tar bubbles! I would "have" to soak my feet in the pool for hours to get it off :)>
I remember the tar bubbles. I also remember how my toes would look like raisins at the end of a day at the pool.
And, no, I do not know what a Ped Egg is, but I sure am curious!
What a wonderful post!!! I'm still a barefoot girl!
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