Tenderfoot

My poor feet. It all started on Sunday afternoon when we decided to hike Treman Park. After two miles of going uphill, we rested for a little bit at the top and watched the falls. And then when we left I only took a few steps before I was in pain. It felt like my toes were scrunched into the front of my shoes and I wasn't looking forward to the mile of stairs I had to go down. So, like any sensible person would do, I took off my sneakers and went barefoot. Mind you, this was my first time going barefoot this year. The stairs were all good as they were stone. Then came the trails. They actually weren't too bad for the most part. A lot of it was packed down earth, but there was also plenty of little rocks and roots and twigs. And then I stubbed my toe really bad and my toenail ripped. No matter. I just sang "I Will Get There" from the Prince of Egypt to keep me going. After a mile and a half of walking in bare feet, they were pretty sore, so I put my shoes back on, and I'm not sure which was worse. But I discovered that if ones feet are sore, it is better to run down the hill as fast as you can rather than to slowly plod down it. More pain at once is better than a little pain drawn out forever. And so I did "get there" and thought my worries were over.

But my feet weren't through with their tribulations. I was getting dead falls in the woods later that day to get a bonfire going and got stabbed in the foot with an inch long thorn. After bandaging up my wound, I went on collecting wood and got stabbed not once more, not twice more, but four more times with thorns. They went straight through my foam flip-flops and into my feet.

But besides having a bruise on my toe from stubbing it, and an indent from the thorn, my feet are alive and well and once more running all over our yard.