Thursday, Dec. 30 marked the end of my office days - well, for 2010, that is, and that day departed with a nice flourish of colors, as the setting sun tinted the clouds with beautiful hues of orange and red... and since the temperatures were around freezing level, I was tempted to make a barefoot exit from the office... However, I did not, since a lot of the sidewalks leading from the office building were not swept clean from calf-deep snow or flozen slush, and so I decided to play it safe and keep my shoes on. But knowing the forecasts for New Year's Eve, I knew that I might still be barefoot outdoors for a last time this year...

Dec. 31, the final day of 2010, was forecast to be not as cold as the days before, and since I had to get out to do a little shopping before the slightly longer weekend, I decided to take the opportunity to make this final shopping trip to the central part of the city a barefoot one, too. All weather forecasts bore warnings of freezing rain and black ice, since the temperatures were around freezing level, and a slight drizzle had been falling all morning. Since I knew that most parts of the sidewalks I had to use to get to the city were swept free of snowe and slush, I wasn't too afraid of slipping or falling. And since I was about to show my bare toes to the the world, it was time to get them into nice shape, including cutting my toe nails. And as I was doing so, holding my toes, while cutting the nails, I felt the formerly blistered skin underneath the frostbitten toes of my right foot coming loose, and as I carefully pulled, it came off, revealing fully-healed, new and quite tender skin below. So, the sources I've read were right in telling me, that a full healing can take up to three weeks... in my case it were 15 days, which tells me that my body deals with such small injuries quite well. From one of the two toes, the old skin, which had felt like leather, when it was still on (see below, my frostbite update from Dec. 18), came off looking like a tiny leather bag:

To show the size of that - literally - self-made piece of leather, I put a European penny, a 1-cent coin (diameter: 16.25 mm - 0.64 inches) next to it on my palm. Certainly, those crime shows on TV must have influenced me in using a scale marker like a penny and taking a picture of it:

Anyway, in some spots a bit of the old skin remained, and the danger was, as it is with any open blister, that the tissue underneath might be too tender for my plans to go out barefoot and have my toes meet near-freezing cold ground (or even colder in spots where salt had been used), possible skin irritations from that salt, the occasional still-frozen slush and snow, or the melted slush, which feels even colder than the frozen sort.

Those two toes now felt like totally untrained tenderfoot toes, very soft and fragile. I decided to take a few precautions to protect me feet from the cold, such as putting on my leg warmers, not putting on toe rings, packing a pair of emergency shoes (my usual office Birks, to be precise) and applying bag balm to my soles and toes to keep the skin supple and warm - the massage effect from rubbing it onto my feet as well as the insulating quality of that thick cream warmed my feet up considerably... and made them smell nicely of marigold, too (that being one of the ingredients of that cream). Furthermore, the protective layer of grease also prevented salt to gnaw on my now partly tender toes. Thus prepared, I went out, felt the pavement underfoot, which was not as cold as I figured it to be, and went on my way to the tram stop. On one short strip of sidewalk, I encountered partly frozen slush and hard-packed snow, with fine grit strewn over it, for anti-skid purposes. On this, bare feet again proved best as far as traction is concerned. And even though I stepped on little spots of frozen slush with a fine film of rain water on it, I never slipped. Score one for bare feet in winter. I made it to the tram stops, with feet showing no signs of coldth damage, and even the tender toes felt OK, with only a slight tingle from the cool temperatures.

After waiting five minutes, the tram arrived and I got on, feeling my feet warm up immediately, the protective bag balm coating still working. And even though I had walked on parts of the sidewalks that had been salted, there was no burning or irritating sensation on any part of my bare soles. I sat in the tram, reading a book, listening to my favourite music (of course, I had my acoustic shielding device - the MP3 player - with me, as usual). There were next to no reactions on my barefoot state from other passengers on the tram, "The Look"® did not occur as yet.
On getting off the tram at the central station underground stop, some people saw my bare feet, and those were the first occurrences of "The Look"®, but only mild ones. I didn't see people making fun of it, but just astonished faces on the way from the underground stop into the mall and to the ATM. On entering the supermarket, it felt like someone had issued a warning of sort, that people should get out and hoard comestibles, since there was a long weekend ahead. All checkout lanes were open, with ten or more people queueing up at each line. I got a shopping cart, and made my way through the aisles, getting the goods I needed, and never thought about the only danger for bare toes while doing so: the cart's rear end with the wheels to stub toes on... and so, I went through the supermarket without any toe damage. After I had what I came for, I joined the trend of the other shoppers in queueing up at one of the checkout lanes. Standing there, my bare toes met the unbelieving stare of a little girl, who then pointed out my bare feet to her mother. She glanced at my feet, then at my face, both disapprovingly, then ignored me. Since that girl and her mother were of Turkish - and most likely Muslim - origin, they treated bare feet in public as looking at something "unclean" in the terms of their religion. I have often met looks of disapproval and even loathing on the faces of Muslim people when they beheld my bare feet - and sometimes they even spat out disdainfully after seeing me walk barefoot. Talking about bare feet and hygiene... I think that such behaviour, leaving wads of their spittle on the sidewalks, is way less hygienic than walking barefoot. Other than that occurrence of "The Look"® from that kid, my shopping went by unhassled, and after paying and packing my bags, I went out of the mall - which was way overheated, as usual - and went outside, to cool down a little and have a smoke before my tram was due to leave. At the mall's exit, a few spots had been cleared of snow and slush, and the pavement was feeling cool and wet underfoot.

Standing there, enjoying the cool and relaxing sensation of the wet pavement, I met two strong occurrences of "The Look"®, as a woman, accompanying an elder man, was about to enter the mall and took a quick glance at my bare feet and her eyes went so wide that they were in danger of popping out of their sockets, her mouth open - with that expression, she looked me in the eyes, then back at my feet, then poked her accomplice, just as they entered the mall. The wide-eyed look of shock also reminded me of a typical cartoon scene, such as this:

A trademark expression of Tex Avery's cartoon version of the big bad wolf...

The second reaction was a man, who also had a smoke a few steps away from me, not noticing my bare feet for a few minutes, but as he beheld them did a double-take, and moved his lips, most likely asking "Isn't that too cold??" while pointing at my feet. Since I had my MP3 player turned on, I could most easily ignore his question and on seeing my non-reaction, he shrugged, went to the ashtray/trachcan combo, stubbed out his cigarette and went inside. At least he properly disposed of his cigarette butt other than flicking it to the ground, as some other people passing by did.
Other than those two strong reactions, "The Look"® occurred only seldomly, since people tend to look downwards less often checking for footwear in colder seasons. Therefore, as I went inside again to get to the underground stop to make my barefoot way home, I received again next to no reactions. And the same can be said about my tram trip home, with filled shopping bags placed on the tram's floor between my feet:

On exiting the tram, a few passengers stared out of the window, just then realizing, that there was a man walking barefoot over near-freezing ground. I was paying more attention to the ground conditions, though, since the drizzle had increased, leaving more water on patches of frozen slush - and there was one such patch I had to master just at a ped crossing I had to use. Aside from having to wait for a couple with their pram (!) to cross the road safely, holding me up as well as car traffic - the mother had some difficulties pushing the pram through patches of almost ankle-deep, partly frozen slush - I had no problems walking on that surface. Even though sidewalks were tended to by people living in the adjacent houses (as it is their or the landlord's duty to do so, depending on their tenance contract), ped crossings were the duty of municipal winter road maintenance, and that clearly focused on keeping the roads free for motored vehicles, not caring much about pedestrians, be they barefoot or shod.
Even though the father had taken over pushing the pram through the slush, they only made slow progress, blocking my way, too, since they were en route to the same apartment house I live. Anyway, I got back home safe, unhassled, pain-free and with my "new toes" feeling A-Okay, too.

All in all, it was a successful test of barefooting for my newly healed toes as well as a fitting end of the barefoot year, spent unshod outdoors for a short while, too.
And now, it's off to a happy barefoot new year - with lots of barefooting ahead, to be sure.

Dec. 25 & 26, 2010 - Merry barefoot Yule and testing deeper frozen waters...

With winter and its trademark snow still being around in the flatland Ruhr Megalopolis, barefoot walks are only short ones, but given the conditions, very intense, too. On Saturday, Dec. 25, I took a short walk across the road where I live to go to the gas station and buy some drinks stuff and cigarettes - making sure to prepare properly by putting a protective layer of bag balm on my bare feet and to wear leg warmers - normally a fashion throwback to the 1980s, but in this weather (cloudy, -6°C/21F), I did not think about fashion, but just about barefoot safety. Even that short trip across the road made my toes tingle - especially the almost healed ones that suffered frostbite - the coldth stimuli made them tingle and sting a little more than the other ones. And even though the swelling has disappeared, and the blisters are no longer filled with liquid, the tissue underneath still is very sensitive to sub-zero Celsius temperatures.

With some more snow that fell on Christmas Eve, the sidewalks looked like a winter wonderland, and due to shortages in the salt supplies (currently, even municipal winter road maintenance has run out of it - just like last year's winter), most of the snow is just swept to the side and next to no salt is used - all the better for winter barefooters.

(That shine on my feet is the layer of bag balm mentioned above.)

Where it had been swept away, the older snow felt nicely packed underfoot, and again I enjoyed the good traction my bare soles gave me on that surface. While being inside the cashier shed of the gas station and paying for my soda and smoke, I did not get any comments, but another customer, waiting in line, about two meters away from me, stared at my feet, apparently unable to move or speak. Clearly, he was suffering from an extreme case of "The Look"®, with some signs of paralysis. The saleswoman serving me and I exchanged the usual holiday greetings (she and other people working there are used to my pedal nudity and no longer comment on it), and out I went to get back across the road and inside the apartment house I live in.
As soon as I had entered the place, the tingling and mild stinging subsided within seconds, showing me that there was no damage done to my toes. And I had obeyed my new golden rule (or rather a silver rule, since that's the material my toe rings are made of...) not to wear any metal on my toes while snowfooting... at least on that occasion I did so - but more on that later.

Sunday, Dec. 26 was feeling like a regular Sunday to me - after all having the Christmas holidays on a weekend feels a bit like cheating, really - the only day off I could enjoy was Christmas Eve. And since it was snowing on that day, I spent it indoors. Well, in the years to come, we will be able to enjoy a really long weekend - especially in 2012 (should we still be around then, that is... there are these mad prophesies, after all), when Christmas Eve and the two holidays are on Monday to Wednesday - a solid five days off without even having to spend a day of leave out of my 30-day annual supply of those.

Anyway, since this felt like a normal Sunday, it was my regular laundry day, and before going downstairs into the laundry room, I decided to test the frozen waters yet again. With temperatures having risen to 0°C/32F it wasn't thawing, but still feeling considerably milder (or less cold, at least) than the day before. I decided to put on a different outfit, omitting the leg warmers, wearing a few anklets, and to break the "silver rule" by putting on one toe ring on my left foot. Furthermore, I did not wear pants, but my tie-dye and black skirt combo, barefoot to the waist (going commando) underneath. By putting on a t-shirt, sweat shirt, dark-gray hoodie and a turqouise woolen jacket, I made sure to keep up my temperature long enough to step out onto my little balcony, which was covered with untouched snow, looking a bit like a small piece of private winter wonderland.

And so, I stepped out onto the balcony, feeling less than an inch of snow underfoot, pleasantly cool, without the sting of coldth I had felt the day before... It seems that the comparingly milder air was taking the tingling and stinging away even from my formerly frostbitten toes.

After standing there for a few seconds, I saw a miniature snowdrift, that had formed at the balcony's rim and decided that it was the time to test deeper frozen waters - and so I placed my right foot (the with the formerly frostbitten toes) into it, and spread out my toes.
No stinging, no tingling, but pure delight was all I felt, doing so.

After leaving nice footprint tracks on the balcony (which show a nice and normal pattern, as a bare foot should), I looked around, seeing that the snow had turned even a dull and boring backyard with its toolshed into a small winter wonderland...
Even the icicles hanging from the gutter above my balcony weren't missing.

After that exhilarating feeling of "warm snow" underfoot, I decided to get more of that, and so, after putting the laundry into the machine, I went outdoors, eager to test even deeper frozen waters.

No, I did not go on my full Sunday stroll in the park, but I went a few steps around the house, meeting a cab driver who just had stopped his car, and just asked, whether I had called for a cab (no comment on my weird hippie outfit or my bare feet), which I truthfully denied, and then went on my short way.

The sidewalk was partly cleared of snow, and again, the hard-packed snow felt just cool underfoot, without any tingling or stinging, not even on that second toe of my left foot, where I wore the toe ring. Walking a few more steps, I came to the entrance of our back yard, where no snow had been swept or moved away and where it was still as deep as it had fallen the days before - about 30 cm (almost 12 inches). So, these were the deeper frozen waters I wanted to test. And so, in I went, feeling my feet sink into the fluffy white mass down to mid-calf.

From this angle it looks like the snow had swallowed my big toes...

Deep footprints in deep snow...

And, also, one happy Christmas barefooter with a fashion statement of his own: just wear what you like and don't give a damn about other people's judgement.

Dec. 19, 2010 - Testing the (frozen) waters...

Of course, "frozen waters" means: snow. Last night, a few snow showers fell, adding more white flakes to the stuff already covering the place I live in, now adding up to 20 centimeters (almost 8 inches). That is quite a lot for the urban Ruhr area in central western Germany, considering that until last year's winter, we did not have any noteworthy amounts of snow in the five years before. Of course, the disastrous early winter onset in late November 2005, when up to 45 cm of snow fell in these regions overnight, and destroyed high-voltage power lines in rural regions of our state, leaving people without power for about a week was noteworthy, indeed. But other than on those occasions, I normally walk barefoot through relatively mild winters.

(Destroyed power line masts, Münsterland, November 2005)

Now, since the current weather conditions and my still blistered toes (update: the blisters are getting smaller, the skin feeling now more loose than yesterday!) prevent me from taking longer barefoot walks outdoors, I still wanted to test the waters - similar to dipping a big toe in the lake to check its temperature - by means of a typical household chore: Taking out the trash in my bare feet. The entranceway of our apartment house was mostly swept free of deep snow, with only a few remnants left, feeling just cool on my bare soles. Fortunately, the janitor had not used salt to melt that away, so that my bare feet were not in danger of sustaining salt burns in addition to frostbite...

Around the dustbins, which are containers, really, there was a bit more snow, hard-packed and not of the fluffy sort, but still feeling not too cold. I put my trash bag into the container,´then took a few more steps on both surfaces for about a minute, when I felt a little tingling on my toes, which I took as a signal to get inside and not get in danger of harming them more. All in all, it was refreshing and nice to feel that snow under my toes. And even though they currently look a little weird, my toes are free of pain and healing is underway.

As you can see, I did not wear toe rings, as to prevent from drawing more coldth to my toes - The current frostbite experience has really imprinted this new rule into my barefooter's mind:

And now I'm sitting in my warm apartment, patiently wiggling bare toes, waiting for a mild spell, as I wrote yesterday already. And according to weather forecasts, that might set in over here just around and after Christmas...

Dec. 18, 2010 - A frostbite update...

Since last Tuesday (see below), I haven't barefooted outdoors due to the injury sustained while snowfooting in the morning. But, since the healing is going on, it's time for a alittle update, I thought - especially since it's making good progress. The toes of my right foot are still a little swollen at the sides, and the blisters have given them a somewhat misshaped appearance, but the bottoms of those toes have now turned back into the tough and leathery skin I used to have before. It still feels strange, though, as if someone had glued bits of bubble-wrap to parts of my toes.

In this sole shot, you see the darker brown spots on the bottoms of my toes, feeling as strong as the well-seasoned soles of a long-term barefooter should. All around it still are the blisters, which might take a little while to vanish. I have read, that such injuries can take up to three weeks to heal - and since the current weather conditions are not ideal for barefooting (more snow has fallen in the wake of a low-pressure area called "Petra" last Thursday, dropping another 10 to 15 centimeters of snow onto the ground, and frost still around -5°C/23F), I will have to wait for milder conditions to let my bare soles feel Mother Earth's bare skin again. Who knows, perhaps the full healing from this might coincide with a mild spell, with muddy and cool Earth beckoning my toes to touch it and play with it.

What struck me as funny was, that I received several examples of "The Look"® for being shod instead of barefoot while doing my Saturday shopping today - it seems that people are so used to seeing me walk barefoot, that the occasion of me wearing shoes is something more noteworthy than me seeing me wiggle my bare and bejeweled toes... It's a strange world we live in.

Dec. 14, 2010 - Today's Match: My Bare Feet vs. Snow...

...and the score is: My Bare Feet: 1 - Snow: 1.
Another way to put it could be: "once frostbitten, twice shy".
Yes, it has happened. This morning I suffered frostbite on my toes for the first time in my life, after barefooting through freshly fallen snow for more than half an hour. The snow came literally overnight, when a very localized system of shower clouds crossed our state from the north southwards, dropping some 10 centimeters (about 6 inches) of fluffy white snow onto the frozen ground. Since those snow showers were quite heavy, and all of that happened within one hour, snow-clearers were surprised by it as well, and even main roads remained white. In our town, public transport was affected, too, with busses stopping their service as early as 9.25 pm. The temperatures were well above my personal threshold, around -2°C (28F).

Looking at this winter wonderland, I was delighted, remembering my barefoot pleasure in fluffy fresh snow a few days ago. I was optimistic, that there wouldn't be any limitations for public transport the morning after - and that's where I was wrong...
Trams and subways were running normally, I found out, and so I packed myself in warm clothing, and proceeded barefoot through the snow to the tram stop, boarded it to go to the central station and there to change to my usual bus which should take me to the office. However, as I came upstairs from the subway (after leaving "The Look"® which I encountered a few times behind), the indicator boards showed a message of all bus traffic being suspended due to weather conditions. Since Tuesday is the day for our weekly executive meeting taking place before regular office hours, I leave a little safety margin as to be on time for that. Plan B now came into effect: turning back by use of the subway train I arrived with, getting off a stop which was quite near the office (a 20-minute walk - when walking slowly - from the office, actually) and arrive at the meeting only a few minutes late. And all that time, I wasn't thinking about donning shoes - the snow had just felt wonderful underfoot - and as I got off the tram at the alternative stop, I enjoyed sidewalks, which were partly covered with untouched, almost ankle-deep powdery snow. As I discovered previously, bare feet have excellent traction on snow - I never slipped while walking on it. The powdery stuff was covering my toes all over and my insteps very quickly, adding an even cooler sensation than just walking on hard-packed snow would. Nevertheless, my feet never felt too cold or numb during that 20-minute walk, also keeping a rosy-pink color, indicating circulation running properly. I arrived at the office happy, refreshed and delighted.

After entering the building, I wiped the snow off my feet and toes and slipped into my office Birks... and a few minutes afterwards - as I was just sitting with the others in our meeting - the tingling set in, feeling like dozens of needles being stuck into the bottoms of my toes. It increased from mere tingling to pain, and as soon as the meeting was over and I was sitting at my desk, I slipped out of my office Birks, letting my toes wiggle freely, which made the tingling and pain subside a little. Examining my toes, I could not see swelling or blistering, yet, and the symptoms were consistent with "only" a first-degree frostbite. So, I'm not going to join the ranks of those climbing the Himalayan mountains and lose some toes there, too.

However, on the way back home, I kept my toes inside my shoes as not to increase the tissue damage already done. Even though suffering from frostbite is not really fun, it decidedly was fun walking barefoot over and through snow in the morning. On walking home from the tram stop, I felt that my shoes were feeling a little small, especially the right one - and after taking off my shoes, I noticed that first-degree had indeed turned into second-degree, with a little swelling and blisters on the bottom of two toes of my right foot and a small blister on one toe of my left foot too... and it were the toes I had worn toe rings on in the morning snowfooting.

As soon as the small injury is healed, I will make sure to insulate my bare feet better - I already had purchased a can of bag balm with marigold... I just had not used it, since I did not expect a longer walk. Next time I will follow the advice of a villainous barefooter known as Uncle Scar: "Be Prepared!"
Well, he's a bare-pawed villain, at least...

Dec. 13, 2010 - Today's match: My Bare Feet vs. Frost...

...and the score is: My Bare Feet - 2, Frost - 0

The predictions of yesterday's weather forecast were true, since it was a cloudy, partly sunny day, starting with frost around -5°C/23F in the early morning. There hadn't been any snow the night before, so that the ground was cold but dry, which made the frosty conditions bearable enough for my barefeet's taste. "The Look"® was of course present anywhere people spotted my pedal nudity on my way to work, and this time it was totally of the astonished sort, as if to say "how can anyone dare being barefoot in this positively polar weather???". That is no exaggeration, by the way, since the current cold weather is coming directly from the north, referred to by meteorologists as "polar cold airstreams".

Seeing the nice and clear winter day unfold, as the sun rose brightly orange in the south-east, a nice sight to watch through the office windows - until someone hit the switch for the electric blinds to keep that bright light from blinding the monitors - I was looking forward to the end of the office day, when it was time to release my feet from their imprisonment in my much-dreaded shoes.
And since a colleague was so nice to offer me to get out a bit earlier than usual, that time was to come around sunset...

And so, I got lucky in a twofold way: I could bare my feet in the remnants of daylight and I witnessed quite spectacular hues of red in the clouds to the west, almost put up there to compete with the bright pink-red glow of my bare toes.
On changing from the bus to the subway/tram at the central station, a group of teenage boys got ouf the train, spotted my bare feet and made their usual "hey, check this out..." comments, quite audible even over my psytrance tunes my MP3 player flooded into my ears. I ignored the snickering group of hip-hop fashion victims, boarded the tram, and went on with my happily barefoot trip home. Other than that, it was just the usual amount of "The Look"® meeting my unshod state - nothing bothersome, really. The only thing, of course, being a little unnerving was the ever-present grit on the sidewalks, as usual in winter. I guess I'll have to bear (and bare, too) with that for the next few months to come. There's always the hope for spring being not too far away... I can wait these three months for that stuff to disappear.

Dec. 12, 2010 - The barefoot hour of power in the park...

Since the mild spell hadn't ended as yet, I was eager to spend more barefoot quality time outdoors, and since it was the day of my regular recharging of mental and spiritual batteries, I just had to go barefoot to the park and enjoy the cool and moist surfaces which were just waiting for my bare soles to touch them.

As usual, the paths with their sand and pebbles surface felt soft and cool after a few days of slight rain and snow and ice having molten. The next step was feeling the grass and soil underfoot and doing my little power-up ritual by standing firmly on the grass, feeling the moisture and softness of the soil and start my breathing mediation to draw in new energy while inhaling and expel fatigue and negative thoughts when exhaling.

After finishing that exercise, I felt being drawn to a triplet of trees and the nice brown soil in the middle of that triangle. Standing there, I suddenly felt warm at my bare soles, and that warmth rose up inside me, filling me totally.

Feeling this, I took a closer look at the three trees, and realized that here I was standing in a spiritual hotspot, facing in one direction a comparingly young tree:

Then, turning to the second tree, which was a little older:

And finally, facing the eldest of the three:

It was then I realized, that I was literally standing in the arms of the Goddess, Mother Earth herself, in her threefold form: Maiden, Mother and Crone - all gathered in this group of trees:

And it appears as if the Crone were holding out her arms to invite Maiden and Mother into her embrace, making all three become one again. For sure, I have walked barefoot in this park plenty of times, and still, there are places and spots waiting to be discovered and felt.

After now being filled totally with spiritual energy, I went to a bench to sit and reflect a little on what I just experienced and after a few minutes went to the bus stop at the park exit to get home again...

The last picture above depicts my bare feet on the small grit I mentioned before, still lying on the sidewalk near the apartment house I live in. Unfortunately, this grit will still be needed, since temperatures are forecast to drop below frost level during the night, and in the coming week, there might also be a return of snow, with medium frost down to -5°C/23F - and as I stated on Saturday evening, that'll be still above my personal coldfooting threshold.

Dec. 11, 2010 - Saturday shopping, space battles and facing "The Look"®

With temperatures risen to +7°C/45F - which is more than ten degrees higher on the Celsius scale than last week - people still seem to dress according to the calendar rather than looking at a thermometer or simply feeling the air. Even the wind feels mild, almost as if spring were around the corner. Well, actually, Spring is proudly and happily walking barefoot in this kind of weather, rather than lurking in a corner (I just love playing with my last name!). However, I saw people bundled up, as if the temperature wasn't +7, but -7°C.

The weather turned out to be just as predicted - mild and with an occasional drizzle, therefore perfect for baring my feet to the urban world and again feeling pavement and tiled mall floors underfoot. It's Saturday, and therefore time for my weekend shopping trip to town - again, barefoot. And, since we are in the pre-holidays season, the city center's mall next to the main station was crowded with people in search of bargains and holiday gifts as well as people like me who just wanted to replenish their supplies in grocery products and perhaps something as mundane as toilet paper (no one talks about it, but as soon as you run out of it, you're in trouble).
Walking on the sidewalks to my usual tram stop felt very nice, and again, the occasional grit left there was not unnerving, but in one palce even pleasant, since someone had strewn very fine grit (with grains no larger than one millimeter) when there was snow mixed with slush quite liberally onto the pavement, there forming a path made of a fine black gravel bed... Which meant to me: A free reflexology massage just by slowly walking over it. If only all grit used for anti-skid reasons on sidewalks were of that barefoot-friendly quality, I'd be glad.

And as soon as I was walking to the tram stop, standing there waiting for my tram, entering it and standing in it (no free seats - as I wrote above, lots of people were going to the city for shopping trips), "The Look"® was my regular companion. That continued, while I was making my way through the mall to the ATM, since shopping requires money. I had to wait, until the two young women were done with their business at the machine, with one of the women staring at my bare feet in disbelief, then nudging her acquaintance, who was busy pushing buttons at the ATM, pointing out my feet to her. I made sure to keep eye contact, with a neutral expression on my face, and as soon as they were done, the hurried away from the machine and the crazy barefoot person. Next stop afterwards was a nearby tobacconist, where I purchased an inexpensive, classic Zippo lighter, two packs of my usual smokestuff and also had a little chat with the saleswoman about different Zippo models, both of us deciding, that the "weathered chrome" model I just chose, looks better than the regular and shiny silver one. Not one word about my bare feet.

From there, it was a few steps to my usual supermarket to replenish some supplies, as I wrote above. After finishing my purchases, I went outside the mall to have a smoke, and to cool down, since the mall was heated up to summer day temperatures and I was wearing a cool-weather outfit - standing on cool, rain-soaked pavement in my bare feet certainly helps in refreshing and cooling down.

Since I had been in a bit of a hurry to get out of that overheated place, I then realized, that I had forgotten some things I wanted to buy (shower gel, among things)...
But there was no reason to panic or rush back and get the missing things, since I just needed to adjust my plans for the late afternoon and early evening a bit. After all, there was that space battle waiting for me - our bi-weekly role playing game session - and since that was taking place in the neighboring city, I decided to take a longer way there, stop at the central station, where there's a drug store and other shops to get what I had forgotten previously. That included a visit at another tobacconist, since I also had forgotten to buy a bottle of lighter fluid for my new Zippo lighter. I also had run out of my favourite Nag Champa incense sticks, so I decided to take a barefoot stroll over the Advent season market held on the ped zone area near the station, and quickly found a large booth selling tie-dye clothing, jewelry and many other decorative tidbits from India and Nepal. There, I found me two large packs of incense sticks, plus a nice black cotton shawl with tie-dye patterns and fringes at the ends. After paying for those new hippie-esque items in my collection, I saw a winterly-dressed neo-hippie woman staring at my bare feet, and then uttering a loud "Wow!" She looked at me, and asked "Did you do that last week, too, when it was snowing and freezing cold???" with a mixture of disbelief and admiration in her voice.
I smiled at her and replied "Well, yes, when the snow was still fresh, I walked barefoot in it. I can do that down to -5°C... the trick is to wear warm clothing to keep the overall body temperature up - my feet warm themselves while I walk, since the contact with the ground and the stimulation of my soles keeps the circulation up and running." She smiled at me - now openly admiring - and said "Wow, that's great, really. And you're a brave man doing so." I smiled at her, thanked her and wished her a nice evening, which was answered by a smile and a friendly "Same to you" by her, before I went on my way back to the station to catch a subway train to get to our role-playing game master's place.

After again encounterin "The Look"® quite many times while standing in the subway station, waiting, and also after boarding the train, I got out at the stop nearest to the game master's place, and had a little walk through side streets ahead of me...
Sidewalks had mostly been swept clean of grit (it seems, that in this city the street cleaning authorities were working better than in the city I live in. Nevertheless, there was one little path going past a church, which hadn't been swept clean of it, but fortunately had a strip of delightfully wet grass with muddy soil underneath and old leaves strewn all over it at its side... You can guess where my feet directed me to walk on...

The evening ended with yet another adventure leading to our spaceship making a crash landing, becoming a derelict which would never fly again. Just great, since this is the third vessel we've destroyed while managing to stay alive. It could be worse, really. At some point our contractors might get the idea, that we're too expensive when it comes to providing us with a brand new ship every time we go on a mission. At least we were victorious, before crash-landing in a desert.

Dec. 10, 2010 - Thaw has arrived - freedom and happiness for bare toes!

Sometimes, coincidences can provide happiness - in this case, it was the coincidence of milder weather arriving, melting away snow and frozen slush, and the end of my week at work on Friday evening. With temperatures rising above frost level, and drizzle falling, I was delighted to see all that frozen stuff on sidewalks and patches of grass slowly dissolve into what it is originally made of: cool and liquid water.

Therefore, I had two reasons to be excited and impatient of the end of my office shift on this particular Friday: leaving the week of office work behind and start a relaxing weekend and being able to do so barefoot, too. So, before stepping out of the office building, I stepped out of my office birks, pulled off my socks and stepped out onto wet and cool pavement with my bare feet. It only took a few steps to literally wash off the stress and fatigue gathered during the day and build up my relaxation and refreshment levels. In some spots, e.g. on grass patches next to the sidewalk and at the bus stop near the office building, bits of frozen slush were still lying on the ground, and I stepped onto them to test the feeling they'd give me - and it was wonderful, indeed. On the grass, which felt cool and soft a little muddy underneath, those patches of slush dissolved into a cold and wet mush, occasionally squirting up between my toes, too. The mixed temperature sensations of feeling ground above freezing level and the occasional sub-zero patch were very nice, as well. Even though there was plenty of grit strewn onto the sidewalks, each little piece of it prickling my bare soles, I wasn't as unnerved by it as before - the joy of barefoot freedom outweighed that by far.

Standing on frozen slush at the bus stop
(poor lighting there, sorry about the minor quality)

Wiggling and warming up happy bare toes on the bus

Dec. 6, 2010 - The barefoot test pilot (testing my limits)

This Monday morning pre-office test was not about temperatures, since it was well above my newly-defined limit of -5°C/23F in dry weather. It was rather a test of dealing with different frozen surfaces and with feeling surfaces where salt had been applied to melt away ice. As far as the feeling of the frozen pavement and the slush and old snow from the day before was concerned, it felt crisp as well as crispy underfoot.

Barefoot on frost-glazed crusty snow with frozen slush mixed in

After the treacherously slippery ground on Sunday, medium frost of about -5°C/23F overnight had turned the puddles to ice and the slush to irregularly shaped chunks of ice, too, and the old snow was glazed over with frost, turning it to crsuted snow.
All in all, it was not the temperatures which were taxing for my bare soles, but the irregular pieces of frozen slush which jabbed my soles all over, including the soft arches. After leaving the bus before work, I slowly walked over that coldfooting test-bed, then facing an especially cold stretch of sidewalk, where the ice had been melted by use of salt with grit mixed in between.
Even though I had to walk only fifty meters over that strip of sidewalk, it felt way longer, since my feet suddenly felt colder than the surrounding temperatures - which is quite likely, since salt can turn ice to water that is cold down to temperatures of -7°C/19F - plus: the wetness also amplifies the coldth stimulus. After having mastered that short piece of sidewalk, I slowly walked down the slight slope that is the driveway down to the office building, careful to walk over crusted snow again - for traction as well as "warmth" reasons, since that was not as cold as the saltwater before. Before entering the building, I slipped into my office Birks to prevent shocking possible bosses already being there out of their wits, and as soon as I was sitting at my desk, slipped out of them again, wiggling my bare toes under the desk to let them dry and warm them up slowly.

Bare feet under the desk, warming up

As long as the surface is still as irregular and in some places salted as it is now, I will most certainly wait for milder days to return to barefooting happily - after all, I do it for comfort and wellness reasons, and not to prove myself as a barefoot winter fakir.
At least the weather forecast is on my side, predicting temperatures to rise above freezing level on Friday, bringing thaw on the weekend. Let's just hope that the slush will dissolve quickly into water (above freezing level).

Dec. 5, 2010 - Interesting textures to barefoot on, indeed, but...

...quite treacherous and dangerous to walk on, too (be it barefoot or shod).

The mild temperatures came overnight, at first with new snow falling, then turning to sleet and in the end to rain, which began to melt away the fluffy new-fallen snow and turned it into slush. In some places, it still looked like snow, all nice and white, but as soon as my foot landed on it, it collapsed into wet and slippery slush, feeling all squelchy underfoot and spurting up between my toes, being as slippery as walking on yellow soap.

Taking a short walk across the road to the gas station opposite the house where I lived, I made sure to step very slowly and carefully on that unsafe ground, and also felt my feet get very cold very swiftly, as I stepped in ankle- deep slush and also some puddles, which were filled with a water-and-slush mix. Such wet conditions are just made to drain all warmth from bare feet, and I was glad to be back at my door after purchasing some soda and smokestuff, without having slipped or even fallen. My feet felt, as if I had taken a winter hike of 30 minutes or more on snow, after those three minutes in wet slush.

At least I was able to present some of my prey from the Saturday before to the world at large, since my weekend shopping trip took me to the drug store as well, to replenish my supplies in candles and cough drops. And I happened to pass by a shelf with nail polish, too... well, I stopped there, and decided it was time to get something new in that department, as well... and especially the glossy dark green befits the holiday season quite nicely, I think...

Since conditions weren't going to improve, I forfeited my walk in the park for safety reasons. I'm not a professional danger seeker like Rex Cramer (check out Kentucky Fried Movie for that reference), and I do my barefooting for wellness and pleasure. And always being tense with apprehension of possibly slipping and falling would not really provide relaxation and positive energy for me. Well, if it's getting a lot milder, and all of the slush dissolves into water, I might think about getting there for a stroll. Or if it gets colder, and more snow falls, which will improve traction for bare feet considerably.
Either way, I'll wait.

Dec. 4, 2010 - Temperatures are on the rise (slowly, but surely)...

Well, to be honest, temperatures have just risen above -5°C/23F this Saturday morning - which is still low enough to make mainstream people cringe with terror at the thought of walking barefoot outdoors, but high enough to make me bare my soles to the frozen ground and have my toes feel a little snow, occasional ice and in some places slush, too - all the pleasures of winter barefooting in a small package.

There was not much grit on the sidewalks, and what was there was mostly pressed into hard-packed snow and therefore was rendered useless in its main function for barefooters: being bothersome. Again, I cherished and enjoyed the good traction of my bare soles in these conditions and also was happy for my circulation working properly, making my feet literally light up in the pink:

Waiting at the tram stop

My weekend shopping trip went by with enjoying a nice barefoot winter day with varying textures and temperatures, and some people now really staring at me for being barefoot, too shocked to even think about comments. And just as I am writing this, more snow is falling, and the temperatures are on the rise towards 0°C/32F, and scheduled to pass the frost barrier on Sunday - with freezing rain to fall on Sunday morning.
Before that, 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) of fresh, fluffy snow is forecast to fall. I guess that my barefoot Sunday walk will be quite interesting, with relatively mild air and cold ground underfoot - I am looking forward to feeling a variety of different coolfooting textures beneath my bare soles.