Those Look Like Comfortable Shoes

I love camping. Always have. I had no idea though, that on this trip I'd accomplish a goal that's been elusive for three years. I WENT HIKING! Yup. Ms. “You need your arthritic hip replaced, probably twice before you die,” and who could also be called Ms. “You're really shouldn't try to do this much compensating for that hip, because you sprained your knee doing so” WENT HIKING.

It started with the shoes.

The Engineer and I are running errands before our “get out of Dodge and away from the kids” camping trip, and we stop at REI because YellowBoy has been wanting “finger toe shoes.” Aka Vibrum 5 Fingers. REI is the only retailer who will let you return them if they turn out to “not agree” with your feet. I'm amazed by that guarantee, by the way. So we're looking, and YellowBoy and I have, at this snapshot in time, the same size feet. We decided to buy a pair in our size, and then we realized that the shoe saleswoman (an extremely knowledgeable employee) had been showing us the women's styles. Perfectly understandable since I am a woman. But I'd thought though that they were unisex like Teva's (at least used to be). Not so. Amazingly though, The Engineer, frugal man that he is, buys his wife the lady shoes. This lady smiles and walks out of the store on cloud 9, wearing what feels like nothing, like I'm barefoot.

Barefoot is a big deal to me. I've had bone spur surgery and plantar facetious in both feet and have been wearing only “comfortable” shoes for years. Then I started yoga (in 2010), and it strengthened my feet so much that now I can go barefoot all day, just like I did in childhood. Hiking in these magic shoes felt heavenly. Yes, I got out of breath, yes, I got tired, but I hiked. Half a mile. But it's a start, and all journeys begin with one step. In great shoes.