The weather forecast was warning me of cold air blowing in from the east, brought all the way from Russia with a high-pressure area called Cooper.

On Saturday, the weather was fair, with temperatures around 5°C/40F, but I spent a lazy weekend, staying mostly indoors, doing household chores. Since I had done my shopping during the week, after work, I didn't need to get out.
As it turns out, I thus missed a chance to do some weekend barefooting, before winter decided to tune up the freezer by a few notches. Sunday was geting frosty already, with a little snow, too, covering the sidewalks with a thin layer (only a few millimetres, making the ground appear like spread with powdered sugar) and from Monday on, the days became sunny, clear and very cold in the morning. Even though Monday would have been within my thresholds, with -1°C/30F, people had been littering the sidewalks with grit and salt - and the latter melted the snow and also held the danger of the water being way colder than just slightly below frost level. Therefore, I opted against slipping out of my shoes on the way from the bus stop to the office building, as I had planned.

Tuesday morning was considerably colder, with -4°/25F and a choppy wind with a speed of 20 to 25 kph - this created quite some wind chill, making it feel like -10 to -12°C (between 10 and 14F!). But we can go lower, still. Wednesday morning: -8°C/18F - and the same wind speed, which created a wind chill of -15 to -18°C (between 0.4 and 5F)... and these definitely aren't barefoot conditions. Feeling the cold wind on Tuesday after work, I decided to find me some gloves, and bought two inexpensive pairs, one of them even hippie-ish weird, since they look like I skinned Grover's hands - you know Grover, the blue guy from Sesame Street? Just look at the fluffy purple gloves in the picture below and judge for yourself:

The orange-black ones are actually two pairs of gloves in one - the black ones have cut- off fingertips, and are worn over the orange ones... both pairs cost just € 3.90 - really inexpensive but sufficient to keep my fingers from being frostbitten in this king of chill... and we're facig colder nights to come, with low temperatures going down to -10 to -12°C (10 to 14F) - and that's without wind chill... if the wind keeps its speed, the wind chill will make that feel like -18 to -20°C (that would be negative Fahrenheits as well, going as low as -4F).

Well, in such cold conditions, even our company's CEO was getting humorous, as he passed me on Wednesday morning, while I was packed up in a thick jacket, scarf, the hood of the cardigan I wore under the jacket, gloves, having my first smoke break in clear and -8°:C cold morning air. He looked at my shoes, raised an eyebrow and asked "too cold for bare feet?" - I grinned at him, raised my gloved hands and replied "well, since it's even too cold for bare hands, yep... it's too cold to be barefoot." He nodded, grinned back and swiftly went into the building.

One niceting, the cold air created, is a little ice sculpture formed from the water trickling from the fountain in front of the office building. After the ice had formed, the fountain was shut off and the water pipes drained to prevent freeze damage.

I just hope, this cold spell doesn't last too long, since I feel a bit cut off from Mother Earth, being forced into shoes when stepping out of the house...

Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 - Leaving the office and the week at work behind on bare feet...

Temperatures are still hovering just above frost level in the early morning, and so I was able to get to work barefoot on this week's last two work days as well. The weather remained steady and dry, with a nice sunny sky on Friday and mild temperatures at 7°C/almost 45F, too, enabling me to feel a little warmth on paved sidewalks, where the sun shone on them. The best to feel on these two days was grass beneath bare soles after leaving the office on Friday afternoon, feeling peace and serenity settling in.

The weekend is forecast to be fair, but rather cool, with slight frost in the morning and temperatures around 5°C/40F on Saturday and just around frost level (0°C/32F) on Sunday. Next week might bring a few snowflakes on Monday... let's see, whether I can do some snowfooting for the first time this year and for the second time this winter.

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 - Mid-week update: Mother Nature's frosty nibbling on my bare toes...

Yes, this morning felt like winter again, with air temperatures as low as 1°C/34F and the ground definitely below frost-level, indicated by rime glistening on the sidewalks and grass here and there. I had decided to be daring and bold by leaving my two toe rings on and applying bag balm onto my feet as insulation. While I definitely felt the ground being rather cold, the insulating effect of the ointment, trapping the body warmth in, kept me from getting cold spots or freeze burns on the two beringed toes. On arriving at the office building, my feet were again all in the pink, so to speak - literally, too, considering their color.

Since the ground was mostly dry (except for a few spots where a residue of rain water had turned into bright white patches of rime), the sidewalks didn't feel remotely as cold as they did on the rainy mornings a few days ago.

After warming up my bare feet in the office - I stayed barefoot for the first hour of work, since the boss wasn't in yet - I took the opportunity to take a nice shot of the splendid-looking sunrise unfolding...

Although I know that such nice sunrises are portentous as far as bad weather later in the day is concerned, the day turned out to be cloudy, sometimes fair and sunny and only a little hazy towards the late afternoon, when it was time to leave the office. As I went out to get to the bus stop, I enjoyed the cool air and ground, while the sun was casting a milky light through the haze, hanging low over the western horizon at 4.30 pm.

Since the day had warmed up to 5°C/40F, the grass as well as the pavement felt pleasantly cool underfoot, again helping me to decelerate after the office day - which today wasn't a stressy one, since we had a meeting with a plenty of positive messages and I got to finish my tasks on my to-do list for the day without hectic... nevertheless, I change between two worlds: in the office world, I am required to function and shoes are sort of a symbol of that world and its demands, too - in the world after work, I live instead of merely functioning and I do my living on bare feet!

After a short trip by bus, I got off near my usual supermarket and did some necessary grocery shopping - unhassled, as usual, and only with occasional examples of "The Look"® here and there. After shopping, I went to the tram stop nearby, to take the last short hop of two stations to my place.

The air was still comparingly mild, and the paved sidewalk felt nicely cool beneath my bare soles...

~*Ganesha*~ feet with shopping bags...

Feet in the pink - circulation working just fine...

On entering the tram, I got one of the typical reactions to my bare feet from several fashion-victim teenagers, especially from the girl on the right in this shot:

At least, these folks didn't take pictures. But, since they were making quite a fuss in giggling about the barefoot weirdo, I decided to document it. Come to think of it, the girl looks a lot like the one that already had fits of giggling when passing me on the same tram line last year in May, beholding my bare feet - and back then, she had taken pictures of me, too.

As long as people are giving this sort of feedback (or feetback, rather...), I will continue making them famous for doing so...

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 - Early mornings feel like winter again...

With early morning temperatures approaching frost level again, I did put on bag balm for insulation purposes on Tuesday morning. Temperatures were as low as 2°C/36F, but I decided to keep my toe rings on. Monday was a bit milder, and the afternoon marked a transition to brighter weather, making it possible for me to wiggle my toes in the sun after work.

After getting in to work on the cool Tuesday morning with nicely glowing toes, the cloudy and sometimes sunny weather continued, making it a pleasant barefoot day before and after work.

On the bus ride to the station after work, a woman was interested enough in my feet to step into a good position to snap a shot of them with her cell phone - which was clearly what she did, since I and all other passengers around saw the flash of her cell phone camera went off after she aimed. Well, since she didn't ask me for my permission, I didn't do so as well and got her, as she happily looked at the result of her photography (pardon the quality - motion blur got in the way of taking a better picture).

Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 - Looking back on a barefoot weather roller-coaster ride...

Friday morning felt quite cool, with a bit of rain and temperatures around 4°C/39F and some wind blowing, the wind chill making it feel like 1 or 2°C (around 33F), just above frost level. I dared wearing toe rings combined with leg warmers and felt that in these conditions I really was at the limit, feeling a slightly stronger tingling in my toes than there would have been on a dry morning.

The day brought sometimes strong showers and gusty winds, and I was lucky to pick a dry moment after work to get to the bus stop and make it home from there. The temperatures were in the mid-40s F (around 8°C) and so not too cold, despite the still gusty wind.

Feeling cool and wet grass underfoot after leaving the office was like a deja vu from Thursday, looking and feeling very similar and also helping a great deal in decelerating, again.

Saturday was the time of my regular office weekend day. Temperatures and conditions were almost the same as on Friday, only with a little less wind. I decided to keep the toe rings on, but add a little bag balm for insulation purposes. This time, the tingle on my toes was weaker, the greasy coating keeping the warmth well in and the wet coolness out.

Since I didn't have to wear office shoes, as usual on boss-free Saturdays, the bag balm stayed longer on my skin, taking until mid-day, before the skin had absorbed all of it. Therefore, during my first coffee break - which I took indoors in our little coffee kitchen and break room - my feet were still gleaming with their greasy finish, combined with foot jewelry and purple leg warmers:

Around noon, when I took my second break, the rain showers had stopped and due to a warm front from the newest low-pressure area called Gisela, temperatures had risen to almost 10°C/50F, making the breeze feel mild and the puddles not as cold as in the early morning. Of course, I had to splash my toes in puddles in the yard behind the office building:

After work, around 2 pm, I enjoyed the slightly wet pavement, while going to the bus stop. Since the break between rain showers was still lasting, I might have made it home relatively dry...

Only several drops of rain were falling, as I got on the bus, and changed to the tram, taking me to the supermarket near my place. However, while I was doing my shopping, a shower front was approaching, with really strong rain falling, just as I was making my way to the tram stop near the supermarket. While padding through, well, not just puddles but large ponds of rain water, the mild wind was blowing from behind me. I arrived at the tram stop almost simultaneously with a little group of giggling teenagers, of the hip-hop fashion victim type, the boys being quite loud-mouthed, too. As we all took our places under the roof of a small shed placed at the stop, my bare feet were at once in the focus of their attention, the girls gaping with shock, their eyes and mouths wide open. I had my earphones in and my MP3 player turned on, but that obscured by my hood and the closed jacket. Still, one of the cap-wearing boys made it his business to yell "'Scuse me! I've got a question..." in my direction, and so I took off the hood, pulled the earphones out of my ears, replying "Yes?" in a neutral tone. He then asked in a slow manner of speaking, his speech slightly slurred, too "Isn't it too cold to walk barefoot?" I simply replied "No, it isn't.", put the earphones back into my ears and ignored him and the rest of the teenagers.

The violent rain went on as the tram arrived, too, and I got in quickly not to get too wet.
Since getting off at my usual tram stop would have meant to have headwind and therefore lots of water flung into my face and onto my glasses, I decided to leave the tram a stop later, and again having tailwind blowing rain onto my back. I arrived at home with a quite wet jacket and my cotton shopping bags drenched, too. When passing intersections, where small streets coming downhill had turned into beds for small brooks of rain water washing over my bare feet, I really enjoyed that special sensation of a rainy day. Waiting to cross the main road, most car drivers passing were evading the large puddles near the sidewalk, or slowed down a little as not to douse me in a fountain of spray - all but one, and that being (what else could it be?) a Mercedes Benz driver. As he neither evaded nor slowed down, I took a few steps back from the curb, and of course, he was making a big splash, missing me by only a few inches. I took both shopping bags in my left hand, and raised my right arm high, showing him a splendid rendition of that classic gesture with a raised middle finger, holding that posture for a little while to make sure he couldn't miss it in his rear view mirror.
That is, if he ever took a look. For it seems, as soon as car drivers board a Benz, some hidden device in the car erases any memory of traffic rules and regulations they learned in driving school, making them drive like owning the road and having permanent right of way. There's hardly any other car brand turning people into arrogant a..holes as a Benz does.

Anyway, aside from that little encounter with motorized traffic in the rain, the Saturday was a nice variety of different barefoot feelings. Had it been a summer day, I would have stayed out in the rain longer, finding me a spot where I could have taken off my clothing too, and take a real shower in the rain...

Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 - Temperatures on the rise and the barefoot setup changes...

On Tuesday, the conditions were quite similar to the cold but sunny Monday, and so the barefoot morning setup consisting of leg warmers and a layer of bag balm remained the same. On Wednesday morning, the temperatures were a bit higher in the early morning, the thermometer reading -1°C/30F and the air way dry, so that there was less rime on the ground. I decided to omit the bag balm, and the leg warmers alone proved to be enough to protect my feet from the cold conditions. The trademark pink glow of well- circulated feet were evidence of my decision being right...

The day itself started with one of those spectacular sunrises, which look great but also portend a change to the worse...

After starting brightly, with the sun shining from a blue sky, the weather began to change by the afternoon, with a new low-level area called Fabienne approaching. As forecast, the wind picked up speed, the sky became grey with rain clouds and a few drops of rain were beginning to fall, just as I went home after work.

Fabienne's rain clouds were a constant feature of the mild, but wet Thursday. Since temperatures were clearly above frost level, reading over 6°C/43F in the morning, I decided to wear two toe rings again, but also kept the leg warmers as part of my barefoot morning setup, since I have come to enjoy the extra warmth on my shins, calves and ankles. Since the ground was wet, and the wind was a little gusty, too, adding to a chilly feeling, making my bare toes feel like touching the ground being almost as cold as near frost level. Wetness and wind can lead to hypothermic effects and might also lead to frostbite, while the temperatures are well above 0°C/32F.
I know of a barefooter in Germany, who wanted to spend her first barefoot winter and got second-degree frostbite on her bare soles after hiking barefoot on wet ground for many hours in windy conditions, while air temperatures were as high as 5°C/40F!
So, always beware of wet ground and strong wind when coolfooting. And get well again soon, Angie...

It kept raining all day, until the sky cleared up a little just in time when I my work day was over and I could leave the office on my bare feet, wading through cool puddles in 8°C/45F mild cloudy weather.

Feeling the soft and wet grass underfoot helped a great deal in decelerating from the office day. The stressful and sometimes hectic beginning of the week with setting up the workplaces for our new team members has lapsed into the usual routine by now, and I am looking forward to the upcoming weekend - even though the weather may be too glum for "normal" people, since mild temperatures and rainy conditions are predicted - more puddles for my bare feet to enjoy!

Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 - A frosty start into the new week...

The weather forecasts were right about a frosty night and an equally frosty morning. When I was ready to get out to make my little barefoot trip to the office, interrupted by short bus rides, my bare feet were facing air temperatures of -4°C/25F, a little fog and rime glistening on the dry sidewalks. Since there was no wind, the wind chill factor did not come into play.

I had prepared my feet by removing my toe rings and wearing leg warmers - a setback to the 1980s, in terms of fashion, but a practical clothing item for winter barefooting. In addition to that, I also embalmed my feet with an insulating layer of bag balm, making them gleam and glisten, competing with the rime sparkling in the street lamps' light.

Arriving at the office, my feet were clearly showing a well-working circulation by their bright pink color...

Since I had to work longer than planned, I left the office as late as 6 pm, thus missing the opportunity to feel the sun on the paved sidewalks, since the day had turned bright and sunny after the sun had risen.
Therefore, I felt some frost underfoot on my way back home, too.

I hope that I will be able to feel some winter sun on my toes when leaving the office on time (around 4 pm) on the next days to come. My precautions had worked fine, since my feet were not damaged by frost.

Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 - The barefoot Sunday hour of power...

A sunny day with temperatures at 5°C/40F was just perfect to get to my favourite park and enjoy the various textures underfoot as well as taking in the mood of a sunny winter's day...

Even though the trees were practically playing nudists, not wearing any of their otherwise typical green garments of leaves, the afternoon sun gave the park a special appearance and atmosphere nonetheless.

I had decided to make my feet look special, too, by drawing an OM sign onto my right foot and wearing my purple flower anklet together with the wooden prayer beads anklet on my right ankle, too. Of course, I also wore my usual array of toe rings, as well. Here's now the collection of me in full glory and then the various textures I explored and enjoyed with my bare soles, ranging from sand, cobblestones, over bare soil (Mother Nature's pure naked skin) to sawdust and finally cool and wet grass...

After getting home and processing the pictures taken with my cell phone camera, I also played around a little with The Gimp, my current image processing and manipulation program used. Although it is a native Unix/Linux-based application, there is also a free version for Windows systems available - and since I have come to like it, using it on my small Ubuntu netbook, I also installed it onto my new "big" laptop computer...

Here's now the psychedelic rendering of ~*Ganesha*~ feet:

With this amount of refreshing, relaxing and creative energy gathered, I am now ready to face another week of office work lying ahead. Due to the quite cool temperatures forecast for the next days - especially near-frost conditions in the early morning - I will make sure to prepare my bare feet accordingly: toe rings are coming off, leg warmers will be worn and bag balm will be applied as insulation from the cold.

Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 - A slight but still significant change in barefooting weather...

Beginning on Thursday afternoon, the mild temperatures were dropping to around 5°C/40F together with a cool wind blowing in from the North. A low-pressure area called Elfriede brought a little cool air from the polar region. After a cool front with showers had passed through on Thursday, the western sky was showing nice colors, as I left the office at around 5 pm, after working overtime.

Friday morning felt clearly cooler than the days before, with temperatures at 4°C/39F and a little wetness on the sidewalks, as I was making my way to the office. With the evaporation and wind chill, these temperatures felt a bit chillier than the numbers suggested. Wearing toe rings was a little risky, considering possible hypothermia effects.
Nevertheless, I made my way to the office without ill effects, my bare soles and toes tingling pleasantly from the surface and coolness stimuli, feeling reviving and refreshing before work. Since this week has been marked by preparing our office for thirteen new team members finishing their four-week intensive training, I had some extra administrative tasks to fulfil. I began the work day with nicely pink-glowing toes

By the end of the work day, the weather was a bit hazy but dry, and I welcomed the refreshing as well as relaxing effect setting in as soon as my bare feet touched cool and moist grass, washing off the slight but existent stress and fatigue after only a few steps. For the days to come, night and early morning temperatures were predicted to drop near frost level.

Since I did not quite finish my tasks on Friday even working overtime, I had to pay the office an unplanned visit on Saturday morning for a few hours. The sky was only a little cloudy, stars winking through from dark holes in the cloud canvas stretched out on the dark early morning sky around 7.30 am.

The pavement was dry, so that the 2°C/34F wihtout any wind felt not as cold on my toes as the wet sidewalks had felt on Friday morning. With the sun rising after 8 am, the day was promising to become considerably brighter than the grey and sometimes rainy days before. I took a break at around 10 am, halfway through my short extra office day, enjoying the feeling of the sun on my bare feet...

After work, I enjoyed the sunlight at noon, which had helped in warming up the sidewalks. Stepping on grass, I felt moist coolness underfoot, alternating with the pleasant warmth of dark pavement.

Taking public transport after work, I received "The Look"® occasionally, and then saw on the tram, that I was not the only person baring my toes to the world... a young woman, sitting down near my seat (after taking a curious look at my bare feet) had chosen to wear fashionable open-toed shoes - not quite a barefoot sighting, but worth mentioning nonetheless, since temperatures were only around 5°C/40F, normally too cool for mainstream people to show toes.

Since the steady and cool weather is forecast to last at least until next Wednesday, I will enjoy a nice sunny barefoot stroll in the park on Sunday - which I plan to make around noon, when the sun has had a little time to warm up the ground... I am expecting the grass there to feel cool and wet with dew, while the sandy paths will be warmed up by the sun. A nice occasion to gather positive energy before the new working week starts on early Monday morning.

Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 - Another seven days of barefooting have passed...

This is what I posted today in the barefoot-themed sub-forum at HipForums in the thread Where did you go barefoot today (2)?:

In the western part of Germany, this winter has been barefoot-friendly enough, with low temperatures dancing above freezing level around 40F (5°C), mostly. The only morning, when I donned shoes was Dec. 20, when snow had fallen overnight, which was turning into very cold slush by the time I had to get to work. I took a few barefoot steps in it, and left tracks, too, when the fluffy white flakes were fresh in the early morning and cherished the additional wake-up effect of it. I also took a few steps in the cold slush on my walk from the bus stop to the office building, enjoying the feeling of the frozen mass squelching up between my toes.

Aside from that morning, I have been barefoot every day on my way to the office and back home. And, of course, all free-time activities, shopping trips and other errands were done on bare soles, too.

Currently, the temperatures are between 45 and 50F (7 to 10°C), sometimes even that mild in the early morning. Long-term forecasts are telling me of dropping night temperatures, though... one crazy graph on a weather website even reading values as low as 4F (-16°C) by Jan. 24... That might change, though, since weather models tend to change on a short-term basis and my poor bare toes wouldn't take a chance in such temperatures.

Wiggling bare toes, praying for mild conditions to linger,

~*Ganesha*~

Today, temperatures were between 8 to 10°C (46 to 50F), thus again perfect for barefooting before and after work. And just like the days before, I made it clear, that I am barefoot on purpose, by displaying bare feet logos on my shoulder bag, on a button on my jacket and by showing off my toes with nail polish and toe rings.

This barefoot outfit prompted a reaction when I was taking the tram home after work, and a woman in her thirties - wearing shoes - was taking curious looks at my bare feet and decided to ask me why I was barefoot. I told her my usual main reasons - wellness and the fun of simply doing it - and she said that she admires the nail polish and the foot jewelry, making it look even cooler than my barefoot state already looks. She agreed on the fun aspect, and I told her that the multi-colored nails and toe rings are sort of optical amplifiers, since people tend to stare at my bare feet anyway. Of course, she also asked the "C-question" ("Isn't it too cold?"), which I answered in my usual way, as well, telling her that the trick was to dress up warmly overall, thus keeping the cold away from my feet and that my bare feet warm themselves up by means of the circulation triggered by direct sole contact to the ground.

Our conversation was loud enough to be heard by other passengers nearby, including two elderly women, who had given me and my feet "The Look"® just a few minutes before. A nice positive feedback (or, feetback?), really. Maybe she was intrigued enough to try it out herself.
Another cute reaction was a woman entering the tram at the stop after the main station, passing my seat, doing a double take on seeing my bare feet, then beaming a smile at me, as she passed, and another one, after she sat down a few seats away from me.

Other than that, there were no special reactions to my pedal nudity... other than drawing "The Look"® onto my feet occasionally, when boarding busses and trams, doing grocery and other shopping, browsing through a mall or spending a barefoot Saturday at the office, since it was my turn to do so last weekend again... the usual routine, every 14 days.

At least I was able to wear my free-time outfit in mild conditions, since there were no bosses around, as usual.

Enjoying the first break in slight drizzle, cooling my feet in puddles:

The second break, after the rain had stopped:

The last picture in this series is my bare feet after work, stepping on wet pine needles that were lying on the sidewalk, where the office janitor had put last year's X-mas tree out to be taken away by the municipal garbage collection. Oh, and did you notice? That's a new sarong I'm wearing, with "OM" signs tie-dyed on flowing and breezy orange cotton. I just love skirts and sarongs, making it possible to be barefoot to the waist (going commando) underneath.

All other days of the week were redundant, as far as barefooting is concerned, since temperatures stayed in the mild-enough window of above 5°C/40F in the early morning and above that in the afternoon, enabling me to enjoy some gathering positive energy from touching soil and grass before work and freeing my feet after leaving the office and to cast off the mechanistic feeling of the office day.

According to my taste, winter can continue just like this, wihtout turning cold. My bare feet would love this, for sure.

Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012 - Mid-week update...

So, the middle of the first week of work is here - and barefooting conditions have been good enough to free my feet on the way to work and back home again, too, including trips to the mall and supermarket without hassles.

I have been able to enjoy the cool and wet feeling of paved sidewalks in the morning, after rainy nights, as well as dry afternoons, including a spectacular sunset view on Monday. That first day of work was a bit hectic, since the beginning of the week and the month fell on the same day - that meant, doing reports and spreadsheets for the week before as well as doing the accounting for the whole month of December, too.

After such a day, baring my feet after work really felt liberating.

I also processed two more videos - one from April 2011, recalling a sunny day and the feeling of soft, dry and sun-warmed grass beneath my bare soles and the other showing me barefooting in puddles, with all segments filmed after work. Both videos are now uploaded to YouTube, as well. After my initial reluctance, I have come to like the built-in functions in Windows 7, especially the Windows Live environment and the movie maker software.

On Wednesday morning, I saw, that one of my golden bling-bling toe nails had lost its nail polish, while the others were still sparkling. It looked like a small disturbance in a series, such as a row of fence poles, with one of them leaning to a side, thus creating a disturbance. Pictures like that are a theme for arts classes in school. I remember doing a dry-point etching for that theme, showing a pool billard table, with one ball crashing through the side of the table. The series was the point markings on the table sides, and the disturbance was the aforementioned breakthrough.

Another example of that theme is this picture I found on Flickr:

And in case of my toes, the second toe, lacking its polish disturbs the series of bling-bling golden toe nails on my left foot.

The second half of the week might be adventurous, since Germany is bracing itself for the arrival of cyclone "Andrea" Wednesday night and early Thursday morning... I wonder, if I have to evade lots of stuff I'd rather not want to step on with my bare feet. Weather forecasts tell of gusts with speeds reaching 110 kph (68 mph) and large amounts of rain falling. Just as I'm writing this, I can hear the wind picking up speed and howling outside.

Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012 - Entering the new year on bare feet...

Without many words, here's a video I've made with my cell phone and processed with my new computer - ~*Ganesha*~ walking barefoot in the park on a mild, rainy Sunday, now also uploaded to YouTube:

And here's some photographs of the feet featured in the movie above:

On my way home, I had to evade the sad traces of civilization celebrating New Year's Eve... broken bottles, which hadn't been swept away.

And just in case if someone wonders about the education of the people leaving that stuff lying around: this picture was taken in front of a college student dorm...

Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011 - Exiting the old year on bare feet...

Celebrating the end of 2011, my role playing game master and his lifemate had invited me to spend the evening with them, and so I went to their place around 8 pm on a drizzly, but very mild evening, with temperatures as high as 10°C/50F - quite untypical for a winter's day. The evening went by merrily, even though their German shepherd was quite upset, as people were igniting the traditional New Year's Eve fireworks and firecrackers outside, and as we stood on the balcony with our drinks - we had mead on this night... - and toasting each other for good fortune, the dog sat down on my bare feet, huddling his shivering body to my legs... since I was the tallest of us three, he seemed to wish for protection from the ruckus out there by the largest member of "his pack", so to speak.

After more than fice hours, at around 1.30 am in the early morning, I decided to get home, since the mead we had consumed (we had emptied five bottles of the sweet stuff) had made me a little tired and nicely toasted too. I padded to the nearby bus stop on my bare feet, evading the remains of blown firecrackers. Fortunately, no one had broken any bottles on the sidewalk, so that there was no danger of stepping in shards of glass - the only really unpleasant thing to evade was a street pizza (a puddle of puke) at the bus stop itself. This is definitely something I wouldn't want to step into - barefoot or shod.

With the mild and therefore perfect conditions for barefooting, this was an ideal way of ending a nice year of barefoot pleasures.

Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 - Boggling the minds of consumers...

After spending a lazy holiday weekend and watching my old Windows XP notebook computer die a slow death, I used this day - the first official day of a four-day leave, too - to get to the neighbor city of Duisburg and look for a replacement for my dead unit.

Needless to say, this was my footwear and toe styling, as I was waiting for the tram to get me to the undergrond stop right next to the central mall, where a Saturn megastore was located in, offering various notebooks in the price window I aimed at - no higher than 500.00 Euros.

You might notice some black grit in the picture above... that stuff had been strewn on some parts of the sidewalk, when that short-lived inch of snow had fallen a week before.

On boarding the tram, during the trip and on exiting at the underground stop, "The Look"® was my regular companion. Even though it was well above 5°C/40F, people couldn't comprehend the fact, that someone might walk barefoot voluntarily and willingly. Inside the mall, heads were turning as I passed, and occasionally hushed voices would whisper "Look... he's barefoot!" with awe and disbelief. In the consumer electronics store, I found a notebook fitting both the price window I had defined as well as the demands I had of processing internet applications, replaying HD video content, perhaps playing contemporary games, too, and left the store on bare feet with a new TOSHIBA notebook of the Satellite C660 series.

Since I had to call one of the salespeople to find a packed unit, I was quite visibly barefoot, boggling the minds of other customers. The personnel in the store was professionally oblivious of my lack of footwear, and never commented on it... and so, another barefoot purchase of computer hardware was made that day.

Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011 - A breach in barefoot redundancy...

The recent days have been almost boringly regular, considering my barefoot routine... the mornings were cool, but barefoot-friendly enough and after work it was a true delight to get rid of my closed-toed shoes, again a mere adherence to the social demands of the workplace. As far as temperatures are concerned, this winter is, so far, a perfectly barefoot one in my region.

However, one typical winter event happened overnight, or rather, in the early morning, as a cold front hit our area, and with temperatures just at freezing level, left precipitation to fall in its frozen shape - snow!

Waking up at around 5 am, a bit early to get to work, I noticed that outside my window the night looked lighter than usual - which is happening, when street lamps and other light sources reflect the white snowy surface. I quickly put on my sarong and some warm clothing on top and got down to feel this special winter delight beneath bare soles and between my naked toes, also wanting to leave some barefoot tracks in the snow, too.

Since almost no one had been walking on that surface this early in the morning, I was able to leave a nice line of tracks to boggle the minds of pedestrians to come... but I already felt, that tiny drizzly raindrops were mingled with the snowflakes, and that temperatures were turning upwards, meaning that there would be little time for these tracks to linger...

Since the snow felt rather cold and I already had some freeze injury experience, I decided to put on my office shoes for the way to work, and perhaps taking them off for the walk from the bus stop near the office place to the office itself.
Getting to work about an hour and a half later, the texture of the snow had changed to slush with a white topping, and since public transport has a tendency to fall into chaos as soon as one flake hits the town, I opted for taking an earlier trip to the office to make upo for possible delays. I made it to the place in time, even with taking a little extra time to take off my shoes and slowly walk barefoot through the slush from my exit bus stop. All fluffiness of the early morning was gone and I felt a rather cold half-frozen and slippery mass underfoot and squelching up between my toes, too. What sounds treacherous and unpleasant to the shoddist ear, was indeed a delight to me, even though there was a certain danger of sustaining frost damage in these conditions. Of course, I had taken my toe rings off and left them at home, facing this kind of weather. On arriving at the office, my feet were positively beaming with pink color, feeling tingly all over, too. However, after sitting at my desk, wiggling, clenching and flexing my toes, the tingling subsided within a few minutes and my feet felt nicely warm all over... no frost damage from slushfooting this time.

During the day, temperatures rose up into the 40s F (well above 5°C), and a steady, slight rain fell most of the time, melting away almost all traces of snow, leaving only occasional patches of slush here and there, including on the grass I stepped on after work, making it feel a bit cooler than the regular wet grass. The soil beneath was all waterlogged, giving way nicely, making me feel like walking barefoot on a wet sponge. Barefooting on pavement felt cool and wet and nothing like the freezing ground and snow I had felt only a few hours before... the wintery interlude was over, for sure, making way for mild days to come, inlcuding a mild holiday week, too.

Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 - Adding to my foot jewelry picture collection...

On a cool but sunny Sunday, I decided to put a few drawings onto my right foot: an OM sign, a sun and a dot pattern on the big toe and took a few pictures on pavement and grass, to add these to my foot jewelry page and also put up a Flickr album, including today's new pictures.

Here are my feet approaching the camera after my short stroll:

A happy soul with a dark sole...

Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011 - Barefooting the office and encountering teenage dyslexia...

Even though temperatures were near frost level in the morning, I decided to increase the foot jewelry level by putting on two more toe rings and my new felt anklets, too. Public transport played a nasty trick on me, as the tram I planned to take ran early - quite irregular, since trams and busses are normally known to run late at times. However, there was an alternative route by bus I could take to make it to the office in time. I only had to wait for about ten minutes at the bus stop, which was slightly below my recently found threshold for barefooting with toe rings on. At a temperature of 2°C/35F, I walked to and fro and did a little toe workout (clenching, stretching and wiggling) to keep the circulation running.

Later, at the office, I enjoyed the feeling of cool paved surfaces, while taking my smoke breaks outdoors.

Between the breaks, I enjoyed the fact that bosses were absent, enabling me to be barefoot all through the office day.

My barefoot styling was echoed by my choice of this day's t-shirt, with a purple Buddha figure sitting on his lotus, while wearing my purple blossom anklet on my left ankle.

After work, I cherished the feeling of soft grass and sun-dappled pavement underfoot, while getting to the bus stop nearby.

After changing to the tram, two teenage girls got in a little while after me, and stared at me and my bare feet. After a few minutes, one of them waved at me, signalling for me to take out my earphones and then asked "'Scuse me, how long have you been walking on feet?". I was tempted to reply something like "Since early childhood" or "Only since it became too uncomfortable to walk on my hands", but she quickly corrected herself, daying "I mean, on naked feet...". It seems that the adjective "barefoot" did not come to her mind - strange really, since this simple word is often uttered by shoddists encountering barefooters as a one-word phrase of astonishment.

Other than that, and occasionally getting "The Look"® on my way home by tram, there was no noteworthy reaction to my bare feet.

In the evening, I went to another regular meeting of our role-playing game group, barefoot as usual, and lowered the dry-weather barefooting with toe rings threshold to frost level, with temperatures at 0°C/32F at midnight, when I went to the bus stop to take the night express bus home.

Friday, Dec. 9, 2011 - Coolfooting continued...

The weather remains stable and cool - a bit above frost level in the morning, and still mild enough to enjoy barefooting wearing toe rings.

After work, I had the nice opportunity to find a remaining puddle from the rain that fell a day ago, enjoying the feeling of cool water on my toes. Walking on dry pavement afterwards warmed up my feet very swiftly. And I was able to leave nice tracks while barefooting into the sunset...

Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011 - People are talking about me...

Well, that's a quite usual thing to happen, when people see me barefoot on public transport, for instance, or when I walk around in town, and couples behold my bare feet - they whisper and point out my pedal nudity to to each other.

This morning, it was a schoolkid on the bus, as I was on my way to work, hissing to a classmate sitting in a seat nearby "You see?? There he is!".
Since that boy, who uttered this, is on the bus on every workday morning, it seems that he had been talking in school about seeing a barefoot man on the bus - and today he was able to present evidence to a schoolgirl riding on that same bus. Nothing out of the ordinary, but the first audible reaction from passengers on that bus line so far...

Other than that, nothing unusual happened on a comparingly mild winter day.

Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 - A barefoot TV star in the making...?

In the morning, the conditions were good and mild enough to wear toe rings and enjoy wet sidewalks and grass on the way to work. The weather service had issued a storm warning, with gusts reaching a speed of up to 100 kph (62 mph or 54 knots).
So, in addition to having snowflakes dance around my nude toes on Monday and exploring icy pebbles with my bare soles after a hail shower on Tuesday, this day could have Mother Nature blowing onto my naked feet.

Now, to explain today's diary entry headline, I have to refer to my electronic mailbag, as I checked my e-mails from the day before just this morning, finding a short mail from an editorial board member of a German TV production company, making news reports and features for various private TV channels as well as PBS networks. A Ms. Lembke wrote me a mail since she had seen the interview in the local newspaper about my walking barefoot even in cold weather, which was published in the end of February this year. And since they might be interested in making a little TV report about someone walking barefoot in winter, she wished me to call her in her office, which I planned to do during a break at work.

On calling her, I found out, that she was researching about walking barefoot for a short report on one of our national PBS networks known as ZDF. She asked me quite a plenty of questions about walking barefoot in general - the reasons for it, the health benefits, social aspects such as people's reactions, etc. - and about barefooting in cold conditions in particular. Towards the end of this pre-interview by telephone, she asked me if I were generally interested in appearing in a TV report - which I confirmed - and then told me that they would get in touch with me as soon as there is a notable amount of snow lying for me to walk on or through... and this sort of explained the reason hidden behind the interest: a little sensation report about someone daring to bare his feet in winter - not so much informational about wellness and health, but rather a little winter freak show, or featuring a real-life barefoot Yeti or Bigfoot, it seems.

Funny side note: last winter, the same network did a report about a young woman who walks barefoot all year, even in snow and is accepted by her employer to work barefoot in the office while learning media and web design. This was presented in a tabloid-style afternoon magazine called "Hallo Deutschland", and on watching that report, me and other barefooters exchanging our opinions on the German "Hobby? Barfuß!" web forum noticed that both her gait and the pictures of her soft soles suggested her not being a habitual, let alone year-round barefooter. And, quite soon after this forum discussion had started, she herself joined the web forum to demask the report as a complete fake, fabricated by that magazine's editors. So, if they decide to feature me, I'll have to be wary as to how they are going to present barefooting in general and me in particular.

At the end of the work day, I enjoyed barefooting into the sunset at mild 8°C/46F, but with a quite choppy wind, thus having Mother Nature blow onto my bare feet...
...but not quite as strongly as predicted in the weather forecast.

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011 - Walking barefoot on crushed ice...

The morning began cloudy, temperatures on the same level as the evening before, at +3°C/34F. Having tested these waters, I decided that it was still OK for wearing toe rings. Just as I had left the house to get to the bus stop to go to the office, a heavy drizzle began, lasting just long enough to douse my bare feet in cold water and to leave puddles on the sidewalk. After about two minutes, that drizzle shower was over. The timing suggests, that Mother Nature was playing practical jokes on me, deciding to give my bare feet some extra washing.

Arriving at the office, my feet were tingling slightly and practically aglow in pink.

At around 2.30 pm at the office, the sky suddenly turned apocalyptically dark, and with a few flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder a hail shower began, littering lots of pea-sized icy pebbles onto the office building and around it. Just like the shower in the morning, the whole spectacle was over within a few minutes, and the clouds disappeared, replace by a nice blue-white sky and the sun coming out.

Since it was time to take my final break before the end of the work day anyway, I decided that this was a perfect occasion to get outdoors and feel the icy pebbles beneath my bare soles. After leaving the building, I stepped out of my slippers and explored the feeling of the hail grains underfoot. Just as I was walking barefoot on what felt like crushed ice, a member of our company's training department came out to have a smoke, saw me standing barefoot on the icy surface, stopped dead in his tracks for a second, then grinned and said "Well, that must be refreshing... and healthy, too.", which I confirmed, walking back to the entrance to wipe my feet dry on the doormat and slip back into my shoes. I told him, that this example of applying Kneipp's lore just saved me a cup of coffee and refreshed me nicely enough to finish the office day fully alert and awake.

At 4 pm, the weather was still dry and in some spots - especially on grass - a few icy grains of hail were still left... and just waiting to make delightful contact with my bare feet, as I walked to the bus stop. The clouds were painting a slightly menacing but spectactular picture onto the western sky. The scenery made the splashing of my bare feet in cool puddles even more delightful.

Monday, Dec. 5, 2011 - A first touch of winter... snowflakes dancing around bare feet.

The new week started cool and cloudy, with wet sidewalks at 5°C/40F. I decided that it was still mild enough to wear toe rings, and so I went off wearing two (one on each foot). My feet felt slightly cold, since the wet ground made it feel cooler than it really was, but were nicely rosy and pink, when I arrived at the office.

At work, two colleagues were intrigued after having seen me walking barefoot before and after work. I explained the key facts and benefits of barefooting to them and both said that they never could do that. I told them, that winter might not be the best season to start trying, really.

After work, a short sleet shower fell and so I decided to wait it out, before going to the bus stop. Just two minutes after departing, a rain shower began, dousing my bare feet in rather cold water. As I was sitting in the bus, taking me to the stop a few steps away from the supermarket near my home, I noticed that thick white flakes were now mixed with the rain. So, I had the first snowflakes of this new winter dancing around my naked toes. Since the ground was not cold anough for the snow to stay on the ground, it melted on the wet pavement as soon as it hit the ground. After shopping, the shower was over just as fast as it began and I wen home, enjoying the feeling of splashing my bare feet in cold puddles. The temperatures had dropped down to 3°C/34F, clearly marking a new personal threshold for walking barefoot in wet conditions while wearing toe rings.

Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011 - Barefoot culture shock on the X-Mas season market...

And of course, the one shocking the mainstream people with a barefoot outfit was me - wearing my orange sarong, a Ganesha-print t-shirt and my brown hoodie in 10°C/50F mild weather, walking barefoot to a sales stand offering general hippie supplies (clothing, jewelry, incense and other trinkets from India and Nepal). I was looking for some foot jewelry raw material and went home with two hair bands with felt decorations, becoming anklets, a dozen small brass bells and a leather string (a DIY bells anklet kit, so to speak).

"The Look"® was my full-time companion, mostly because of my general outfit, to which my bare feet were sort of a whipped cream topping and the anklets and toe rings the cherry on top of a colorful sweet hippie dessert.

Friday, Dec. 2, 2011 - The barefoot end of the office week.

The mild temperatures of the day before stayed overnight - with 12°C/54F and a slight drizzle I decided to wear something lighter than typical on a December day. I put on light blue jeans, cuffs rolled up well above the ankle, a black Ganesha-print T-shirt and my brown hoodie.

The mild temperatures invited me to wear four toe rings, two from the new batch that had arrived the day before. The weather forecast told me of temperatures dropping during the day, and by 9.30 am, it had done so indeed... 6°C/46F marked the point when the warm fronst of the low pressure area had passed and the ccoler air from the north-west began streaming in.

By the afternoon the temperature had risen a little again, and the sun was peeking through between clouds at 8°C/46F. The ground was still a bit damp but pleasant underfoot as I was barefooting home into the weekend after work.

Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011 - Starting the barefoot winter.

The morning started cloudy, with 7°C/45F again mild enough for barefooting and wearing toe rings, too. Rain was forecast for this day, holding the promise for some puddlefooting in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, there were occasional showers, together with a choppy but mild wind at 13°C/55F - absolutely no winter weather, even though this day marked the beginning of the cold season by definition of weathermen - for statistic reasons, they have defined the first day of the solstice and equinox months as the seasons beginnings. Going to the main station after work and visiting a tobacconist to buy some lighter fluid for my hippie Zippo got me a few examples of "The Look"®, therefore nothing out the ordinary.

The noteworthy barefoot thing happening this day was the arrival of the toe rings I had ordered online three weeks before. It seems, that German customs officials thought the fact that a man orders foot jewelry from Switzerland suspicious enough to route the envelope from Switzerland via Eastern Germany to my place.

Pictures of the new toe rings - alone and on my toes, too - are featured on my foot jewelry page.

Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 - Bare toes meet cool puddles again!

The morning was cool, with 5°C/40F and wet sidewalks, since a rain front had passed the night before. However, it was mild enough to put on my usual three toe rings. Noteworthy about this morning's barefooting was the fact that there were puddles to splash through! I realized that I really had missed that barefoot delight after a very dry month. Actually, in our region it was the driest November ever since the beginning of recording weather data in Germany in 1881.

A bit later, the morning unfolded by presenting one of those sunrises fit to be used as a backdrop for a "The End" credit screen.

The day remained sunny, temperatures rising up to 11°C/52F by the afternoon. But still, I was able to find a remaining puddle and make use of it by playing around in it, splashing my feet in it and leaving trademark tracks afterwards.

Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011 - Cool November continues...

6.30 am, +3°C/35F - this made me leave my toe rings at home, since the ground felt almost frosty. Towards the afternoon, the day turned mild again, with temperatures around the mid-40s Fahrenheit (8°C) and a cloudy sky.

Monday, Nov. 28, 2011 - Starting a new working week...

Temperatures just above frost level, at +1°C/33F in the morning, and a formal appointment at work made me wear (*gasp!*) socks and shoes on the way to work. Since my feet were packed in footwear, I could wear a toe ring, well hidden from the cold.

Cutting myself off my contact with the ground made me feel quite different compared to the other work days, when I had the occasion to be in touch with Earth and a little Nature before entering the artificial world of numbers, facts and figures.

I was very glad when I could release my feet from their confinement after work.

And for the first time, I encountered a new potential danger for pedestrians, and barefoot ones especially: the slapstick trap!

I had to evade a banana peel lying on the pavement, as I crossed the road on my way to the bus stop. Now, glass shards, thorns, prickly seeds... all these are well-known "dangers" to bare soles. But possibly slipping and falling from stepping onto a banana peel, as often seen in old black-and-white silent movies is something new, indeed.

Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011 - Typical November weather continues...

Temperatures were the same as on Friday morning, as I set out on a barefoot office Saturday. Since the sky was overcast and all grey, there was no nicely colorful dawn on that morning, though. Aside from the six-hour office shift, I had a little shopping in the city mall and our classic pen-and-paper role-playing game group meeting in the evening in this day's schedule.

The absence of bosses and suit-and-tie people at work enabled me yet again to leave all footwear at home and enjoy full barefoot freedom in the office...

Other than getting "The Look"® occasionally in the mall, there were no noteworthy things happening.

Friday, Nov. 25, 2011 - A cool morning and a little November rain...

On a dry and clear morning, temperatures at 4°C/39F, the ground felt slightly cool, with a little coldth gathering around the three toe rings I wore. Standing at the bus stop, I felt my toes and soles tingle after a few minutes, giving off a little "first-warning alert" of the typical body reaction preventing hypothermia. However, a few steps on the sidewalk tuned the throttle up in my circulation engine again, making my feet gleam nicely pink and feel nicely warm again within seconds.

The morning unfolded into a nice sunrise, which portended a rainy day...

And true to the rule, that a colorful sunrise means rain later, I had the opportunity to feel wet sidelwalks and grass underfoot on my way home after work... the slight rain on a typically grey November day was not enoough to create puddles, though, so that I was still waiting for that delight towards the end of a dry fall month.

Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011 - Another mild and misty morning...

With another mild morning, the frost-free barefooting before and after work continued today. Temperatures were at 8°C/46F, and stayed on that level the whole day, due to a mostly cloudy sky and slight fog. With these temperatures, it was possible to wear my usual three toe rings again.

The misty quality of the air added little halos to the yellowish sodium street lamps in the morning, bathing my feet in their typical light, as I was enjoying the cool feeling of paved sidewalks and the slightly warm feeling of damp leaves underfoot.

Inside the office, I enjoyed the fact that the boss had not arrived as early as me, enabling me to wiggle my toes on the carpet, before having to put on my dreaded but unfortunately socially expected closed shoes.

After the office day, I was happy to see, that the fog had lifted a bit to let the sun peek through, basking everything in a milky yellow light for a few moments, before setting... feeling grass on the way and the pavement at the bus stop heading home were again true delights after releasing my feet from their confinement.

And the barefooting continues, courtesy of still mild November weather...
...even though rain is imminent towards the weekend. It's been quite a while since I have done some puddlefooting - this month has been exceptionally dry and I admit, that I am looking forward to getting my toes wet in autumn rain.

Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011 - Mid-week morning mildness...

With a cloudy sky overnight - and, as it appears, a little rain, too - the temperature did not drop below 5°C/40F in the early morning, making it easy to be barefoot on my way to work and back home afterwards.

The sidewalks were mostly dry, and where fallen leaves were lying, these were a little wet in some spots, but feeling a little warm, too... perhaps due to the decomposition processes going on in them, producing some extra warmth, such as happening in compost heaps as well.

Early morning bare feet under street lights and in front of the office building:

Bare feet after work, at the bus stop:

By the afternoon, temperatures had risen up to 10°C/50F, but the air felt a little clammy, so that it did not feel that mild. Furthermore, the sky stayed overcast all day, making it a more typical grey and slightly gllomy November day. Again, barefooting was a good measure of gaining a little happiness to fight that gloomy mood.

And with weather conditions still predicted to remain this way, I will have more occasions to boost my personal wellness and fight fall depression by walking barefoot.

Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011 - Fleeting frosty kisses on my toes...

Early morning air temperatures were near frost level at 6.30 am, when I stepped out of my house to get to the bus stop, and some cars at the roadside showed rime glistening on their skin of tin. With 2°C/34F on the thermometer above ground, the ground was again a bit cooler, and rime could be seen and felt in some places, too.

But it was not frosty all over and everywhere, so I decided to reduce the danger of cold spots on my toes by wearing just one toe ring. Bag balm was not necessary, though, as yet.

During the day, the sky was cloudy, the sun peeking through the clouds, with enough power to warm up the day to about 13°C/55F again, just as on the day before. After work, at sunset time, I went for a little shopping as the sky closed up, and on leaving the bus near the supermarket, I felt a few drops of rain falling... not a real downpour, but enough to leave sidewalks wet after I finished my shopping.

Even though the temperatures were still around 10°C/50F, the ground now felt considerably cooler, since the wetness added a cooling effect.

The visual event of the day was a nicely colorful sunrise, as seen from the office window:

With the weather and temperatures mostly staying this way, and cloudy conditions forecast for the nights, my feet will stay bare before and after work... and current long-term predictions (until December 5) are on my side, as far as temperatures above frost level are concerned. So, let's hope for a mild and barefoot-friendly winter.

Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 - Starting a new week on bare feet...

Early morning temperatures at 6.30 am were just around 4°C/39F, slight fog here and there. With air temperatures above frost level, I decided to again omit the bag balm insulation and keep my toe rings on... and since the ground was quite a bit cooler than the air, I felt coldth gathering around those toes, as if I had dipped them in ice water. By wiggling my toes and walking to and fro at the bus stop, I kept my feet warm and rosy pink.

The maximum temperatures rose up to 13°C/55F by 3 pm, again on a sunny day... after work, my feet were happy to be released from their cinnamon-smelling pedal imprisonment known as closed shoes.
Even though temperatures would have been flip-flop-able, I have again decided to follow the social expectation of wearing closed shoes in the season, which will shortly phase into winter, as we are only nice days away from the meteorological beginning of winter on December 1... For my taste, the weather can go on defying the calendar and stay this way.

Weekend, Nov. 19 & 20, 2011 - A lazy barefoot weekend...

With temperatures in the low 50s F (above 10°C) and fair weather, barefooting conditions were just fine - however, I only took minor barefoot walks, such as a short trip to the city mall on Saturday, going to a drugstore to purchase foot care cream ("Hirschtalg Fußcreme" by Balea) and some products to fight the common cold: paper hankies and cough drops. Other than the usual occurances of "The Look"®, nothing noteworthy happened.

On Sunday, I spent a lazy day mostly indoors, taking a short barefoot walk across the road to the gas station, buying some drinks for the office Monday and some sweet stuff. The cashier was astonished by my bare feet, asking the "C question" ("Isn't it too cold?"), which I answered with the usual warm clothing reply, since my feet warm themselves up by walking, keeping the circulation running.

Awaiting the delivery of the toe rings I ordered from Switzerland, I prepared a little foot jewelry page, putting up a little "best of" picture collection of my nicest anklets and toe rings photos from these diary pages.

Who knows... maybe I will start a career as a professional male foot jewelry model soon...

Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 - Heat Wave! Well, almost, that is...

Since the night had been cloudy and the air has blown in from the west, the morning temperatures were clearly above freezing level, with 8°C/46F. I reversed my morning barefoot program, omitting the bag balm and putting my toes rings back on - in these conditions, there was no danger of sustaining cold damage.

The ground was dry on this morning, making the fallen leaves feeling like a cinnamon-smelling dry fluffy carpet underfoot. And after work, the pavement and grass felt nicely cool underfoot - just the right thing to make my feet feel free after wearing closed shoes during the office day.

Even though the mild temperatures would have been perfect to wear flip-flops, I opted for wearing closed shoes - partly due to our client visiting, giving out little gifts (a bit early before X-Mas) and thanking for the good cooperation.

The current frost-free conditions certainly allow for a nice barefoot weekend and forecasts tell me of these conditions staying for at least another week. The longer, the better for bare feet.

Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011 - Frosty toes, day four...
...with comments and questions after work.

With air temperature slightly above and ground slightly below frost level, the barefoot procedures stayed the same as the days before.

As day temperatures rose just below the 10°C/50F mark after work, I went for a nice barefoot shopping trip to the supermarket near my place, and today was confronted by two employees there, commenting and asking questions.

The first encounter was with the branch manager, who was restocking shelves, when I was passing through the aisle he was standing in. He nodded a greeting, and then said "I was wondering if you'd still be barefoot in this weather...". He then told me, that he has seen me barefoot in the supermarket very often and that we talked about barefooting years ago, when meeting by chance at an ATM. I told him about my "tricks" for barefooting in cool weather - warm clothing to keep my body temperature up and bag balm in slight frosty conditions. He wondered about the usual cliché - bladder and kidney ailments - which I dispelled, telling him that this would rather be a danger when sitting on a cool surface rather than walking on it. As he had to move on, he wished me well and stated his admiration for my being seemingly immune to the cold.

No mention of shopping barefoot being forbidden or the like.

The second encounter was the employee at the checkout who asked me, if I were still barefoot when it gets cooler. Since she couldn't see my feet, she missed seeing me wiggle my bare toes. I gave her the same replies about warm clothing and said, that in the current afternoon temperaturs, barefooting isn't much of a challenge for me. When asking about the slightly frosty mornings, I told her about using bag balm as an insulation measure, too.

Two positive feedbacks on my barefooting in a supermarket... not bad at all.

Since the forecast for Friday predicts morning temperatures in the Fahrenheit mid-40s (around 8°C), I will most likely wear toe rings in the morning again and omit the bag balm.

Speaking of toe rings: the new ones ordered last week still haven't arrived...
...and today was day six of the ten-day delivery time maximum. No need to panic as yet.

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011 - "Frost-kissed flowery fragrant fairy feet"... Reloaded!

Today was an absolute deja vu, as far as the barefooting conditions are concerned... with the same temperatures as the day before, my precautions were the same, too:
toe rings staying off my feet, bag balm spread onto my feet.

And just like on Tuesday, my feet felt fine in the morning, despite slight frost. The forecast for the next days shows rising morning temperatures, since the weather is predicted to become cloudier from Thursday evening on, which might mean a little break in the morning frostfoooting experience.

Side note: I'm still waiting for the toe rings ordered to arrive by mail. The count-down is running fo the maximum of ten days for delivery reported by the Swiss online vendor.

Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011 - "Frost-kissed flowery fragrant fairy feet"

This is what my bare feet reminded me of this morning. Early temperatures were as low as -3°C/27F - definitely below freezing level - which made it easy for me to leave the toe rings off today as well. In these conditions, I wanted to add a little protection to my feet and toes by applying bag balm onto them.     Since the ointment is laced with marigold essence, my bare feet smelled nicely of flowers, which made me think that this must be what smelly fairy feet have to be like. Of course, fairies' and elves' feet don't stink like human feet would... they smell of leaves, Earth, flowers and fresh rain. No wonder, since they don't hide their beautiful feet in shoes, like us. Lucky them...

Morning feet before leaving the house, on the bus and in front of the office building, gleaming nicely with an insulating coating of bag balm:

A nice sunrise, watched from the office, while wiggling my toes in the office:

The temperature rose until 3.45 pm up to 10°C/50F, making me look forward to barefooting on the way home. Since a gardener had used a leaf-blower to blow the fallen leaves from the sidewalk to the side, I was able to play barefoot hide-and-seek in them...

And the forecast still tells me of this type of fall weather to stay...
...perfect barefooting conditions are here to stay, it seems.

Monday, Nov. 14, 2011 - November morning frost and toes with tan lines...

First of all, you might wonder: no Sunday barefooting report? No, since I chose to spend a lazy Sunday mostly indoors, tending to getting rid of the remaining cold symptoms by means of herbal teas and staying in bed for a longer time...
...which worked just fine, since the sneeze and sniffle has ceased to a minimum and my cough has decreased to almost zero as well. And even though I did not draw extra power from Mother Earth on that day, I felt positively energized by the fact of this healing taking place. Short barefoot strolls did happen, such as around the house, feeling cool pavement and grass on a foggy day - it did not get sunny, as forecasts predicted, but the world remained hidden behind a veil of mist.

This fog was one of the ingredients to make a cool Monday morning, as air temperatures were showing values of 1.8°C/35.2F, as read on a weather web page for my place. Since these were measured 2 metres above ground, I reckoned that at barefoot ground level, there might be frost already, and so it was off with the toe rings - revealing quite prominent tan lines, since I had worn them constantly after last winter's end.

As it turned out, when I stepped outdoors to get to the bus, my decision was right as to prevent cold spots and possible frost damage to my toes. Cars parked by the roadside were glistening with rime, and I also felt it coolly kissing my bare toes when stepping on a patch of grass next to my house. Another indicator of frosty conditions was steam rising from the sewer manholes in the street.

Waiting for the bus, I walked to and from, clenching and wiggling my toes to keep the circulation running. I had put on a warmer jacket than my usual cotton hoodie, allowing to keep my overall body temperature up and not feeling cold, despite baring my feet. And it worked out just nicely, as the pink color on my feet showed, before entering the office and inside as well...

As was socially expected on a frosty morning, I had opted for taking my closed Birks with me as office shoes, since I didn't want to freak people out too much for wearing flip-flops, baring my toes in almost wintery conditions. However, sionce temperatures rose up to 14°C/57F by the afternoon, that made me breach my temperature-based office shoe rule the other way around this time - I had previously done that by wearing flip-flops below the 10°C/50F pass line, and now I did so with the closed shoes above it. Anyway, fall is a season of compromise in that respect, since it can feel like winter in the early morning and like spring in the afternoon...

Baring my feet after work was therefore a special treat, since it meant to set them free from the confinement of my foot coffins, feeling sun-warmed pavement and soft grass underfoot.

As far as I could hear on weather reports, the steady fall weather with occasional fog in the morning as well as morning frost is here to stay for a while... so, the toe rings will stay off for safety reasons.

Another side note about toe rings: I had ordered five new ones last week, receiving a message of shipment last Thursday... it said in the message, that it might take two to ten days for them to arrive. I am still waiting, eager to show them off to you, as soon as they are here. Stay tuned, as toe fashion updates are underway.

Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011 - The second half of the office week, with a barefoot Saturday, partly at work.

On Thursday morning, the temperature limbo continued, true to the motto "how low can you go?" - in this case, go barefoot. With 3°C/37F, and thus approaching frost level, several toes became "cold spots" that morning, since I still wore three silver toe rings - two on my left foot and one on my right - note to myself: as soon as frost level is reached, and I have to wait at the bus or tram stop, the rings will have to go!

Starting only slightly hazy, with a thick and yellow full moon low over the western horizon, thick fog rose shortly after sunset, with the visibility dropping to below 100 metres (300 feet). Almost the whole day stayed that foggy, with temperatures rising no higher than about 8°C/46F. At the end of my office shift, the sun came out, only to make its farewell at sunset around 5 pm. Since I exprected milder conditions, considering the forecast for that day, I had chosen flip-flops as my office footwear, and the weather made me breach my own temperature-based rule on the kind of shoes at work.

At the bus stop after work, I noticed, that a bank was advertizing by showing barefoot sportsmen - in this case, members of a local rowing team. The slogan translates as "taking care of key players" - and in this case the key players and top performers are barefoot.

Due to the cool temperatures, my feet were showing that the circulation worked perfectly by their trademark pink colour.

Friday morning marked an interruption in the temperature limbo game, since the night had been cloudy, preventing too much coldth in the morning. With 8°C/46F, it wasn't cooler than on the day before. With this kind of weather, I chose flip-flops again as office footwear, again believing the forecast of a maximum above 10°C/50F.

The ground felt, smelled and sounded different on that day - paved sidewalks were dry and feeling only slightly cool. Where leaves were lying, they felt dry, emanating a slight scent of cinnamon and rustling quite loudly, when I stepped on them with my bare feet. The same was true for leaves covering the grass, which also felt dry underfoot, totally different from the cold and wet sensation felt the day before. With the temperature curve pointing upwards and no fog, it was a nicely mild day with 12°C/54F in the afternoon, when my office shift was over and I could free my feet and head home.

Saturday morning started the usual November way, with cool air (5°C/40F) and a clear sky. Dawn came with a pink sky, and my bare toes were glowing pink competing with the colors of the sunrise.

Starting the last work day - two-thirds of a regular shift, to be precise - I took the tram to the central station to change to a bus taking me to the office. Since the tram as well as the central station were quite empty at that early morning time, "The Look"® occurred only very occasionally. The same was ture for the self-service bakery stand, where I bought several tasty snacks for breakfast and a cup of coffee to go. The cashier had quite a few good looks at my feet, but never commented on them.

After exiting the bus, approaching the office building, I saw the waning moon hovering above it, just getting ready to set. Had it been a rising moon, a certain song by Creedence Clearwater Revival would have fit the mood just perfectly.

The day unfolded nice and sunny, with the sun also bathing my little desk arrangement at work in warm light, as well as my bare feet on the office carpet.

After work, I enjoyed the warm and sunlit grass and pavement on my way to the bus stop and went for a little Saturday shopping trip in the mall near the central station.

My barefoot trip to the ATM, the tobacconist and the supermarket was the usual, again encountering "The Look"® occasionally. Other than that, there were no noteworthy reactions from the people in the mall or on public transport.

With this, the working week ended, making way for a shortened weekend, with a sunny Sunday ahead to try out a product I've been using for decades now... This week, I found one amusing example of promoting walking barefoot on a barefoot-themed web forum, made like one of the typical home-shopping infomercials, this time for a product called "Anti-Shoe":

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011 - Mid-week coolfooting... temperatures keep dropping

Yet another degree centigrade less than the day before... 4°C/39F, slightly hazy. No fog this morning and the ground conditions were the same like on Tuesday morning. On my way to the bus stop, a van driver had gotten out of his vehicle and asked for directions to a nearby road. Apparently, his employer had not equipped his van with a GPS system, so I fired up Google Maps on my cell phone and gave him the right directions - no comment from him about my lack of footwear on a quite cool morning.

Near the ofice, the grass strips felt wonderfully cool and dew-wet underfoot, and I also left some trademark tracks, when leaving the grass, taking the last steps to the office driveway on the paved sidewalk.

The office day went by nice and easy, since the day already started off sunny, with bright orange and red hues at dawn. The sunrise lacked the spectacular quality, since there were no clouds lit by the rising sun. The sunshine was enough to warm up the day to 15°C/59F in the shade and also provided nicely warmed sidewalks and grass to be explored and enjoyed after work by means of my bare feet.

On the way home, waiting for my tram at the relay stop, I received a text message from an online vendor selling foot jewelry. I had ordered a few toe rings - plain silver, patterned and silver with enamel - and they texted me with the shipping announcement... So, I will be presenting my new fall/winter 2011 toe ring collection soon! Well, since I ordered them in fall, they will be my personal toe ring fashion collection of this season.

Watch out for pictures coming soon... perhaps a new milestone to starting a male foot jewelry model career... that would be a professional barefoot career I would start in an instant!

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011 - Barefoot in the fog...

Another typical November feature is fog in the morning, which makes the surroundings look like filmed through a gel lens. The fog wasn't that thick, but still adding a special mood to the early morning, when I left my apartment at around 6.30 am to get to work. The temperature was 5°C/40F, sidewalks were mostly dry, unless fallen leaves were covering them - those were feeling a bit like a cold, wet carpet underfoot.

My toes tingled nicely, when walking alternately over dry pavement, damp leaves and cool, wet grass. Arriving at the office building, I could see that my circulation was working just perfectly, making my toes glow nicely pink:

So, the barefoot walk in the morning was cool in a twofold way.

Later in the morning, the sun fought her way through the haze and by 3 pm temperatures rose up to 14°C/57F - not quite as high as the forecast, but still good enough for barefooting after the end of my office shift. Morning temperatures are predicted to drop slowly towards frost level, but that won't keep me from baring my soles to the Earth - at least in dry conditions.

Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 - A new week & some recovery...

The new week started with a typical November day - temperatures in the morning at 8°C/46F, an overcast sky, hazy and a little fog at ground level, too... just like what everyone expects at this time of the year. But since the day was forecast to get milder, with temperatures rising above 10°C/50F, I chose flip-flops as my office footwear, according to my personal temperature rule.

However, today's weather decided to make me break that rule, since temperatures never went higher than 9°C/48F, and the sky remained grey all through the day...
Normally, this is one of those days, which opens a time of typical autumn depression, since daylight is only dim and no sunlight is there to be felt warmly on the face or on the skin of my bare feet. However, such a feeling never set in, due to two factors:

• I was able to bare my feet under the desk and freely wiggle my toes
• The herbal tea cure and a weekend of staying mostly in bed to sweat out the strong sinus cold had helped - my nose was running way less, my throat felt no longer sore and there was no trace of fever...

So, I was able to spend an easy office day, doing my usual number-crunching and attending our weekly admins and bosses meeting without feeling tired or too sick. And even the prospect of having to work overtime - an hour each day from Tuesday to Friday and the barefoot Saturday shift, too - does not hold a threat to my good mood. Furthermore, the next days are forecast to be milder and sunnier than this Monday, too. So, there's going to be the warmth of the sun to be felt on my face as well as on the soles of my feet.

Happy feet at the tram stop, after work:

In a week's time from this Monday, my bare toes might encounter frost in the morning - and according to my aforementioned temperature and footwear rule, this will be the beginning of a time of wearing closed shoes in the office, too, since temperatures are forecast to stay below 10°C/50F - with frosty conditions all day forecast for November 22:

(Screenshots of temperature forecast curves on wetter.com)

But even that won't keep me from barefooting before and after work... especially since dry and sunny weather is forecast for that time.

Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011 - Looking back on a shorter office week...

Getting back to work after the All's Hallows intermission meant to expose myself to all those assorted viruses and germs flying around in the office air and on public transport, too... barefooting conditions were fine, early morning temperatures never lower than 12°C/54F and the maximum temperatures reaching up to 19°C/67F.

Aside from having to dress up a little on Wednesday, November 2, due to a meeting scheduled - which didn't take place yet again - I was able to wiggle bare toes under the desk and enjoy the various textures before and after work by means of my bare soles.

Happy after-work barefeet:

On the downside, some of the aforementioned viruses hit me with a broadside, making a sinus cold break out rather violently, and causing me to spend most of the weekend in bed (with a slight fever on Saturday). I even opted to rather stay in on Sunday and recover, boiling me some herbal tea to sweat out the fever properly. My only barefoot trip on the weekend was grocery shopping in a nearby supermarket. Even that short trip made me break out in cold sweat, despite not being dressed up too warmly.

With mild conditions forecast to stay next week, too, I hope to recover soon to enjoy some more than just the necessary barefooting when going to work and going back home after work.

Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011 - A summer day's mood meets winter clothing...

This motto was proved easily, since the mild and sunny weather with temperatures at 16°C/61F in the shade had lured quite many people out and into the park to take an after-lunch stroll at around 3 pm, burning off some calories which had been gained during the All's Hallows holiday meal, no doubt. The funny thought is that this took place at a time of the day, when the next traditional holiday meal was just around the corner: the traditional afternoon coffee and pie, something quite common on Sundays and holidays.

Even though the air was mild and the sun still warming up the place, I was the only person who chose to wear something light, as can be seen above. All other visitors of the park were wearing typical fall clothing, some even bundling up as if it was already a winter's day, complete with scarf, cap and long coats, too. Everyone was imprisoning their feet in closed shoes, even though the dry fall leaves, damp grass and cool sand and soil were beckoning to be explored by bare soles. I was again the only one, willing and eager to have full contact with the Earth in Her many forms and textures...

One of the treats of this day was finding a mud puddle, where I could play with my bare feet in cool and wet soil, feeling mud squelch up between bare toes with delight...

After getting Earth-colored toes, I went around the park, walking over wet grass, trying out a walking meditation technique I had read about: inhaling, while taking four steps, then exhaling, while taking another four steps. After a few seconds, my focus was on breathing and a steady rhythm of barefoot steps on soft grass, cool and wet, with soft and yielding soil underneath giving way, molding itself to my soles. Even though it was only for a few minutes, this technique almost instantly relaxed me, making me feel nicely energized, and that feeling intensifying, while I walked towards my favourite spiritual spot: the three alders, in my mind being symbols of the trifold Goddess. Standing in the center of the threesome of trees, I felt nice and positive energy rising up, filling me from my soles upwards.

After spiritually charged this way, I went over to a bench, sitting down and letting the mood of a fall day, its special light and the mild air, rich with scents of damp Earth, grass and the fallen leaves - reminding of cinnamon - do its work on me, adding to the meditative relaxation experienced before. Even the duck pond in the park felt like a magical place.

After sitting there for a short while, I stood up, walking a bit over the grass, making daisies I found nice backdrops for playful foot and toe pictures and also hid my feet in fallen leaves, the colors of the leaves, my sarong and my skin blending together in hues of orange and brown...

And while walking, I got in an even more playful mood, deciding that just one dip into the mud with my bare feet was not enough - I wanted more, and so I went back to the mud puddle, this time making sure to get ankle-deep in it, covering my bare feet liberally with Mother Earth make-up. I ended up wearing EFFs - Earth Five-Fingers... and the mud puddle clearly showed, that a barefooter had had great fun in it...

While taking this second mud footbath, a family passed by on the path several meters away, and they watched me stepping in it, grinning, having lots of fun - I can only guess what their thoughts might have been...

After covering my feet in mud, I walked a bit over the grass again, and happened upon a chestnut, which turned out to be almost heart-shaped - not the pictographic shape, but close to the anatomic one... I'm sure that this was a gift meant for a barefooter, since shod people don't stray from the paths to feel the grass and don't watch the ground, as barefoot people do. So, in this case, the lucky barefooter finding this present of Nature was me.

The park had a very magical feeling to it, amplified by the glorious colors of fall, which were just gorgeous in the afternoon light. I spent about two hours there, until the sun was getting cloe to the horizon, before hiding behind cloud. Before the air was beginning to feel too cool for just a t-shirt and sarong outfit, I left the park, heading for the bus stop at the rear entrance of the park - and, as expected, eliciting "The Look"® on boarding the bus for my outfit as well as my still Earth-colored bare feet. Filled up with so much good energy, I can now face the rest of the week at the office, including a meeting and the monthly accounting which is due tomorrow...

But looking at these examples of fall scenery makes those tasks ahead seem small and of little meaning... just as it should be - living a little, instead of merely functioning. Or, to put it in Robert Wolff's terms: living my life, instead of my life living me. Feeling this way, I knew that this day's barefoot hours of power in the park had worked just the desired and welcome way.