following some foot troubles i have been recommended sensible flat shoes fitted with an 'orthotic device'. i hope this situation is temporary and i can go back to wearing un-sensible shoes by next spring.
the last time i was pre-occupied with my foot ailments was years ago. it was my first winter at boarding school and my first snowfall, i must've been 5-6 years old. after running around with my tongue stuck out, catching snowflakes like a puppy, i remember noticing how soft and easy the snow was under my feet.
the novelty wore off speedily. one afternoon i was walking around the compound and sticking my foot into any mound of snow i saw, stomping it into submission, rejoicing in its scrunchy protestations. verily i espied an undisturbed patch along the periphery and ran to make my personal mark on the territory. i stuck my foot in, anticipating to meet concrete under what i guessed would be 6 inches of snow. in my excitement i had failed to notice this was roughly where an open drain was located. as it turned out, the snow was only a couple of inches deep, my foot (and leg) went right into the drain...and the freezing water under the snow. so now my shoes (completely girly and unpractical) and standard-issue 'knee-length gray woolen socks' were completely drenched. i didn't know what to do. i was convinced i would get severely reprimanded if not spanked by the resident dragon lady (masquerading as mrs graham, head matron) that i did not tell anybody. i felt like an infantry soldier from world war I, so was my utter misery. when we were sent up to our dorms to change after supper i breathed a sigh of relief; my foot was a most ominous shade of purple.
sometime the next morning our school 'shoe man' came by with a special package for me to deliver an order that had been placed some weeks prior. he unpacked the most plain and ugly black lace ups you ever saw. but the new leather scent along with that of shoe polish was a heady mix indeed! plus they were so warm and comfy. and dry. and how they shone! and squeaked when i walked...i was in a very different kind of shoe heaven.
