Long walk with the doggy. Great sun-warmed macadam, cooling pools from last night's showers. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm........ Smooth, really cool floors at the market. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. It is SO great to go barefoot! WOOF!
Theres a park i used to go to for the only purpose of walking around barefoot but they graveled all the trails and, being only a part timer, wasn't into the pain of sharp rocks. So i got on the metro parks website and found a list of all their parks and trails. Not only that, they list what the terrain is. Found a map with one listed as "grass" and went to check it out. Just what the person who goes barefoot casually was looking for! Soft grass, smooth dirt on the trails through the wooded areas, even some mulch chips every now and then. I think walked two miles today. Had the whole place to myself. I think i've found a new hang out on my days off.
Parks are THE best for beginning barefooters---besides, there so much variety: grass, dirt, mulch, moss---all of which becomes unbelievably wonderful after a good rain. Mulch (which sometimes says "I dare ya!") just INVITES you to wander through. And MUD---as Billy Crystal used to say, "Don't get me started." Barefoot in the park isn't just the name of an old movie.....
barefooting is stupid to do in the real world. Theres all sorts of toxic wastes, glass, and used syringes everywhere. So its only cool to barefoot in nature where you know there is no bad stuff. But still even when i did that i got some gnarly spike splinters from a certain tree and that was pretty lame. shoes are very useful if you really don't like them then you should still know when you need to be using em or else your feet are going to hate you.
Yes and No. We all still use our EYES, and barefooters aren't fools. Just people who have really thought this through and just prefer bare feet, for whatever reason. That's the whole point: REASON. First and foremost: Be Careful. THEN: Be barefoot!
Totally unsubstantiated rumor, myth and FUD. I've gone 20 years without shoes, touring major cities on 4 continents and have yet to encounter a single problem other than narrow-minded shoe police who've accepted every piece of misinformation spewed by the shod masses.
Your profile says you live in Santa Cruz. I've been there a few times, and I don't recall all those used syringes. I actually haven't seen a used syringe on the street anywhere since the '80s. You must live in a very tough neighborhood. Paradoxically, it's safer to be barefoot on the street, since you can mostly see where you're going to lay your foot. Ideally, even going barefoot on the sand isn't that safe, since your feet sink in sand and you never know what's beneath the surface – there might as well be a used syringe, right there, and you would have no clue. And about barefooting in nature, as much fun as it is, you never know where you might run into a poisonous spider or even a viper – and rest assured that's not a fun encounter.
Right, I'm just off out barefoot to the Doctor. I haven't given up on my search for syringes just yet, but if I can't find them lying around on the floor in there, then I'll never find them.
Doctors' offices tend to be more hygienic about those kinds of things. They have special sharps containers just for disposing of used needles. If you ever do find a syringe on the floor there, it's actually a huge problem!
