Happy Feet

Recently, I reluctantly admitted to myself that it was time to make a decision about shoes. I hate shopping, even online (when necessary, Bill does it so I don't have to), but I couldn't put it off any longer. We walk a lot of miles in our shoes and need them to be comfortable and functional. I have good hiking boots, but they only work during the cooler months, since they require heavy socks or two pair of thinner ones. As it gets warmer (and by that I mean 10C/50ishF), they become uncomfortable to wear. The Raynauds leads my toes to quickly and easily become either ice cold or burning hot. When it's the latter, it is difficult to focus on anything else except the desire to get the boots off of my feet.

In Moville, it wasn't much of an issue, since I couldn't spend a lot of time outside anyway without feeling ill. I had shoes I could wear indoors or to take a quick walk to get groceries or go to the library.  But now that I no longer have that issue, I am doing more walking again and the time had come to decide what to wear on my feet now that winter is over.

Years ago, I had severe pain, including in my feet and could not even walk around barefoot in the house, even for a few steps. The way I could walk without pain was to wear Birkenstocks, so I'd buy a pair whenever the old pair wore out. Then I stopped eating red meat and within weeks, my pain was gone. By the time we moved and I started walking everywhere, it was no longer an issue, so when I needed new walking shoes, I bought some hiking sandals to see if those would work. I got the first couple pair on sale and then a pair on clearance and the three pair (all Nike) lasted a decade, clocking up mile after mile after mile. I never did find another kind that was as good. Some have been uncomfortable or not great for walking any distance and one pair (Teva) fell apart after a few months.

So, being in need of good warm weather walking shoes, I started going back and forth in my mind about which way to go--Birkenstocks or hiking/trekking sandals. Since I had no local options at the moment, I knew I'd have to look on ebay or some other place online (we don't do Amazon). That made me lean towards the Birkenstocks with a back strap because I knew what I'd be getting and knew they'd be comfortable.  The downside of the Birkenstocks is that when they get wet, they get stiff and feel weird. Since we need to be prepared for rain during much of the year, I hesitated to buy those.

Bill found some hiking/trekking sandals with a closed toe, but large vents on the sides and an adjustable back strap. I decided to take a chance on those, since I could return them if I had to. He got a notice saying the estimated delivery date was this Friday and I woke up this morning hoping they'd come a few days earlier, since I have been walking around feeling like my feet would be bursting into flame at any moment. This morning he said, 'One of your pairs of shoes is coming today.' I thought that was a weird way to phrase it, but said, 'Oh, good! I was hoping they'd come before Friday! They'll be early! Yay!' 'No,' he replied,'These are the Birkenstocks. I figured you might as well have a pair of each, so I ordered those, too.' I often consider the fact that, while I was not as cool as I thought I was when I was 18, I did know how to pick a good husband 😀

We went and did a few errands and with every step I looked forward to the arrival of the postman bringing me my comfortable new shoes, and telling myself that tomorrow, I would not have to worry about the spontaneous combustion of my toes. When he came, I excitedly opened the box and put them on. Happy feet!

A few minutes later, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a hi-vis vest going by the window and heard a thunk as something was tossed onto our windowsill. I went out to see what it was and it was the other pair of shoes!

They were early after all, although I must say that I am unimpressed with Fastway couriers. Oh well. Happily, I should not be needing their services again anytime soon. So far, these are comfortable, too, and hopefully they'll be good to walk in. They're designed to get wet, so bring on the rain!

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