The View from Here

My Aching Feet...and Yours

 

I was at the gym yesterday, ironically walking on the treadmill, when I noticed that the talk show host on the television above me was prancing around her stage in the most ridiculous platform shoes I’ve seen since 1970. How can we demand to be respected for our minds and admired for our accomplishments when we continue to torture our bodies for the sake of fashion? And why don’t more women realize that those “cute shoes” they treasure today are almost certain to cause them pain and problems in the future?

Feet get little or no respect. Even though our feet are two of the most complicated parts of our bodies, we give little thought to their care or comfort until they disappoint us.  We expect them to support our body weight, carry us 5,000 to 20,000 steps per day, and do it all while stuffed into narrow, too-tight shoes with four-inch heels. Or even worse…slipped into flip-flops with no heel, no arch support, and a piece of rubber wedged between their toes. Flip-flops have been shown to negatively affect your feet, and also your back and knees, yet people continue to spend the whole summer wearing them. Now there are even specially designed socks that will allow you to wear them in the winter.

There are 26 bones and 33 joints in each foot. There are over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Each has a purpose, and each can sustain damage. Bunions, corns, blisters, heel spurs and other problems are frequently caused by tight, narrow, and/or ill-fitting shoes. Women often buy the same sized shoes for years, in spite of the fact that our feet get larger and wider over time.

I’m on my “soap box” today because I’ve made all the mistakes I’m warning you about and I’m currently suffering the consequences. I have several foot problems that could have been prevented if I had given more thought to my shoe choices and taken better care of my feet when I was younger. So…I urge you to take a good look at your feet AND at the shoes in your closet, and ask yourself if you should make better choices.

(The shoes shown are my gym shoes. Cushioned and comfortable.)

More...

Another lovely visitor to the garden. There are more butterflies each day. 

 

Brown Paper Bags

I miss paper bags.

Paper bags were useful and practical and could be reused and recycled in a dozen ways. I wrapped books and packages in paper bags. My students made art projects with paper bags. I used paper bags to cover the grass where I wanted to make a new flower bed.

Paper bags always seemed to be loaded properly at the grocery store. Someone who specialized in packing groceries knew how to put cans on the bottom and crackers on the top. They had practiced bagging and had competitions.

When your groceries were packed into a paper bag you “hugged” it with one arm and supported the bottom with your other hand. You didn’t sling one in each hand and hope nothing inside moved around too much.

Yesterday Gary and I went grocery shopping and as usual our groceries were tossed randomly into plastic bags. Glass jars were placed with other glass jars. So many cans were placed in one bag that it was too heavy for me to lift it. A bottle of cranberry juice was bagged with box of pasta and a carton of yogurt. All the other cartons of yogurt and one of sour cream were in a separate bag. My expensive olive oil was “double bagged” …with a glass jar of pickles. I suppose I’m leery of all this casual grouping of groceries since the “pickle incident” two years ago. I was carrying a bag containing two jars of pickles when one rocked against the other and cracked it, leaking pickle juice in a trail down the driveway.

You can’t ask a cashier to re-bag your groceries without getting the “are you serious?” look. You can’t tell them your experience with multiple glass jars and expect for a moment that they’ll remember that the next time they bag your groceries. Nor does it do any good to space your items on the conveyor belt in a more strategic way. I once separated two glass jars of pickles by three feet, with dozens of items in between, and they still ended up in the same bag.

I know…I should buy my own bags. I’m still looking for smaller, practical ones that stand upright. Too many of them are large; cashiers then stuff them with far too many groceries, making them too heavy for me to carry.

Until I find a better solution, I’ll just spend a few minutes rearranging items before I head out to the parking lot. Sometimes it’s just a matter of moving that box of pasta and putting it between the two jars of pickles. But oh, how nice it would be to have a sturdy paper bag.

 

Blessing of today...

I've waited patiently for this visit!

Memories of Mom...

My mother loved butterflies. I often wish she could walk through the butterfly garden at Hagerman with me. 

Snug and warm...

I’ve lived in Oklahoma long enough to know that there might be a few weeks, or several months, between these two photos. But today it is blustery and cold, so I’m wearing long sleeves. I turned the heater on and set it to 72. I changed our sheets to flannel. I got our winter comforter out of storage. I unpacked my heavier robe and sweatshirts. I moved my most sensitive patio plants to our sunny spare room.

Of course my preparations for a cooler week and a transition to winter may be for naught. We may return to warmth and I may wear a t-shirt a few more times.  In past years I’ve actually mowed the lawn during Christmas break. However, for today, and tonight, I plan to be snug and warm.

Back in Time...

Yesterday I visited Craighead’s Five and Dime.

Perhaps only those who grew up in a small town can truly understand what it’s like to shop in a store that you visited as a child and that was also frequented by your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Yesterday I did just that, and the experience is always calming and comforting.

The store was gone through numerous changes since it was opened by Jack and Welthy Craighead in 1935 as the “Notion Shop”. It has gone through even more changes since my friend Belinda bought it from Welthy’s daughter, Maurine, in 2002. It literally collapsed into the street during remodeling and was painstakingly reconstructed. It still has the same floors and tin ceiling and front counter. It still feels like “home” each time I shop there. My mother worked for Maurine for a while. My parents lived next door to her until she died. I always felt like she was a relative by adoption.

If I find myself missing my parents or others who are gone, I have only to visit the store that we all loved. I always leave feeling better…

Government at work...

 

I know, you’re not in the mood for even one more word about Washington. Well, rest assured, this is about real government…by the people and for the people…our local city council.

One of the community groups I belong to recently decided to use some of our funds to landscape the community building. The structure was built in 1939 and in the past couple of years it has undergone major remodeling. The inside, especially the kitchen, is beautiful. The outside looks a little sad and neglected. Hence the proposed landscaping plan.

Four members of our group attended the city council meeting to explain the plan and get their approval. It has been a while since I attended a meeting. In fact, since my last visit, a new councilman has been elected. Once again, I was impressed with the dedication of everyone involved in this often-unappreciated job. These men and women take care of every aspect of town maintenance- from crime control to street repair and trash pickup. They listen to complaints and solve problems. They work with a variety of organizations to create a better community for everyone. This month they are assisting the Caddo Community Association with preparations for the upcoming annual Heritage Day. They’ve repaired some electrical outlets and installed a new one for vendors. They’ve cleaned and mowed. They’ve made extra trash pickups.

We get totally involved in the big issues reported on the news each day. We often see our government as “those people” who are doing things we don’t like. We sometimes feel that our voice is not heard and our needs are ignored. I find it restorative to get back to basics once in a while and see how government was intended to work. No, it’s not perfect. No, the actions of local government aren’t always agreeable to me. But at least it is local, personal, and observable. I can be on the agenda. I can ask questions and express my opinion. I can go home feeling that I’ve been a part of it.

And yes, the landscaping project was approved. Expect “before” and “after” photos soon.

 

Sunday Stroll...

Each Sunday afternoon I stroll through the yard to see what is going on. I try to note changes and look for new blooms and make mental notes of what needs to be done next. But mostly I just enjoy whatever I discover. 

Here are some photos from yesterday. 

People Who Read

Gary and I are readers. We’ve been reading books for information and entertainment all of our lives. I can’t honestly remember a time when I wasn’t reading. Even though I’m sure most of it was merely a function of memory, I “read” billboards to my dad when I was still short enough to stand on the front seat of the car next to him. (Let’s save the safety discussion for later.) As a young girl I read under the covers with a flashlight after long days in the cotton fields (we had strict bedtimes). As a young mother I read while nursing my babies and cooking dinner. I remember one of my girls asking once, “Will you put that book down for a minute and help me?” Sorry…

Yesterday Gary and I went to the library because we needed some more books to read. We make this trek monthly and always bring home a good mixture of fiction and non-fiction. We were also surprised and excited to see that the library was holding their annual book sale in the foyer. We each bought a variety of non-fiction books. We agreed long ago that we prefer to borrow most of our fiction from the library. My purchases ($1 each) were:

Steinbeck, A Life in Letters (which includes his correspondence from 1923 to 1968)

A Visual Timeline of Transportation (This is a Dorling Kindersley book. I love their illustrations and simple explanations.)

This Fabulous Century (This is a Time-Life Books series. I bought 1870-1900, 1900-1910, and 1910-1920.)

And in the library, I checked out Nora Robert’s “Shelter in Place” and “You Are What Your Grandparents Ate”, by Judith Finlayson (About nutrition, experience, epigenetics and the origins of chronic disease.)

As I began my morning routine today, I wondered how many people enjoy reading as much as I do. I suppose there aren’t statistics for that, but there are studies and charts about people who do NOT read, and the reasons why they don’t. The most recent study says that 27% of adults in the U.S. have not read a book in the past year. While that figure is lower than I feared, it is still sad to think that anyone could go that long without reading a book. (BTW the study included ALL forms of books.) I plan to keep reading as long as I can physically do so. Maybe I’ll be forced to use a flashlight at the nursing home so I don’t get into too much trouble!

Are you a reader? What are you reading this week?