|
|
March 27, 2011 - More signs of spring on my barefoot Sunday stroll...
With sunny weather and temperatures around 15°C/60F the cool spell that was forecast for the weekend seemed to be over. On going to the park, I saw that some trees were showing hues of green, where first new leaves were poking out from their buds. New blossoms were out as well, and in addition to more daisies in the grass, brightly yellow pilewort was growing, too...
The nice weather lured quite many people into the park, and my favourite big lawn area in the western corner of the park was crowded with people who used it as a field to play a game that is not quite common in Germany - cricket. Yes, indeed, it was cricket they were playing. Even though I do not know the fine points of the game, I recognized those sticks in the ground as a wicket and also the typical shape of the bats as well as the pitching technique. This means, of course, that my usual walk over that lawn was blocked by about two dozen people vacating that area, half of them playing, the other half sitting beneath a large chestnut tree. But even though I was constricted to a shorter round in the park, I was able to feel soft grass and soil underfoot, enjoy the sights of blossoms near my toes and sit on park benches, soaking up the afternoon sun.
And though it was mild enough, as mentioned above, and even warmer in the sun, I was again the only person baring my feet to the sun and Earth. With its sunny and bright weather, Sunday was the opposite of a cloudy, sometimes overcast and comparingly cool Saturday - temperatures were only as high as about 10°C/50F - which saw me barefoot in the city for a short weekend grocery shopping trip. I received two reactions, one at the tram stop, where a woman bummed me for some change and a cigarette and then commented on my toes and toe rings, saying that they're beautiful. The second reaction was after shopping, when I waited outside the mall, having a cigarette (unhealhty habit, I know...) and an elderly man asked the C- question ("Isn't that too cold?"), to which I replied (loud enough for all within earshot to hear): "Absolutely not. I always walk barefoot as soon as temperatures are above 0°C (32F), and sometimes in snow, too..." which made him shake his head disbelievingly, and sent him off inside the mall. Other than that, there were no more reactions than "The Look"® On Saturday evening I went to our usual roleplaying game session. On the way there, one reaction was a car passing by, honking the horn and yells from the inside - most likely not reacting to my bare feet, but to the fact that I was wearing my purple sarong instead of pants. Even though it was a cool evening, and by the time I returned home at around 1 am as cool as slightly below 5°C (40F), I did not feel too cold being barefoot to the waist. As far as the gaming is concerned, we were able to close another chapter on our fantasy adventures in a medieval-style world by successfully finishing off an evil demigod on a parallel plane of existence... everyday stuff for fantasy games. Next time, I will again assume the role of a Proximan starship pilot, getting ready to wreck another ship. I kind of have a reputation for landings comparable to the one Anakin Skywalker made in Star Wars, Episode 3 (where Obi-Wan observed "Nothing to worry, we're still flying half a ship...."). But that's largely the game master's fault, robbing me of options to bring the ship down in one piece... he most often uses a crash as a basis for the story to unwind. Next week will be the third out of four weeks of my in-job training and according to the weather forecasts, it will be another flip-flop week, giving me again multiple opportunities to bare my feet in the seminar room as well as outdoors during the breaks - and of course do my barefooting before and after work, too.
March 24, 2011 - Playing with daisies... Still no change on the sunny and warm spring weather. Temperatures went as high as 18°C (over 64F), with a cool morning around 5°C/40F. But even though the morning was quite cool, I saw some people wearing shorts and one teenage boy in khaki shorts even showing toes by wearing open sandals without socks... however, I was again the sole barefooter (pun intended), as no one else dared to fully bare his or her feet. On our second break during our seminar session at 11 am (it's half-time in the training program for the new project I'm going to work in - two more weeks to go, before I am going live on answering customer inquiries by e-mail...), it was warm enough to go outside wearing a t-shirt, no jacket, and I went to the sunlit part of the paved parking lot to feel that warmth underfoot, too. During the lunch break, I decided to tune it up a few notches, and went off the company premises to get to that strip of grass, which I walk through on my way to and from work to feel sun-warmed grass beneath my bare soles. I walked on that for about twenty minutes, listening to some chillout music and feeling my inner batteries charging up with some extra positive energy. Spring has prompted some daisies to stick out their heads and show their cute faces to the sun, and so I decided to play with them, making them a part of my foot decorations (I just love doing this!):
Friday is forecast to be again quite nice, but with a little more clouds to arrive, marking a little cool spell over the weekend... the maximum temperatures are said to drop below 10°C/50F, but at least there's no frost imminent. Well, as we know about the weather, it just couldn't have gone on forever...
March 23, 2011 - Mid-week update: spring is still here... Barefooting in ideal conditions The weather has been stable, sunny and mild within the last three days - and even cool mornings (slightly above freezing level) have not scared me into wearing footwear on the way to the office. Furthermore, even though I am not free to enjoy the sunny weather for longer times during the day, a colorful sunrise makes it easier to go to work, knowing that during breaks, there is time to go out, find a sunlit and warm spot and feel the ground or pavement with my bare soles.
And also the cool temperatures in the morning have their special treats, such as feeling some sunlit grass underfoot, with fresh and cool dew drops still glistening on it... and it's especially nice to leave wet barefoot prints on the pavement, walking the short distance from the grassy area to the office entrance:
Such a slow stroll on wet grass certainly helps with refreshing as well as relaxing just before entering "the machine" - and as I've heard in the forecasts, the weather will stay just as sunny on Thursday, then get a bit cloudier on Friday, and just in time for the weekend, of course, will get cooler and perhaps rainy. Not the best timing, really, but I will take that in (barefoot) stride, too.
March 20, 2011 - A visit to another world and another walk in the park... On this Sunday, I was happy to see that the weather forecast had been right yet again, promising a sunny day. Even though it was just slightly below 10°C/50F in the shade, I wore the same sarong outfit as the day before, when I went out to go barefoot to the movies, as planned. As soon as I stepped into the sunlight, I felt warm at once, my bare soles feeling the warmth of the sunlit pavement, much to my delight.
As I wrote, I had purchased some new nail polish on Saturday, and already put it to use, as the Na'vi-blue big toe nail of my right foot proves, along with the bright blot of dark orange on one of the smaller nails of my left foot. Next to the bus stop where I waited in the sun for my bus to take me to the central station to arrive there was a large ad poster for a plants and flowers market, reading:
Translated to English, this means "Spring will be colorful" - what do you mean "will be"?
With me standing there, Spring already was colorful, and is anytime I am outside
barefoot in bright hippie clothing...
Of course, "The Look"® was upon me many times, from passers-by as well as from passengers on the bus as I entered, looking not quite like the rest of the mainstream world of fashion and outfits.
On arriving at the site of the movie theater - a large mall located at the eastern end
of the town where I live, right on the border to the neighboring city of Essen - I went
inside an almost deserted mall (as you might expect on a Sunday around lunch time), found
my way to the movie theater and went inside. On the way there, I found the mall overheated
in comparison to the mild spring weather outside. The tiled floors felt as warm as outdoors
on a summer day. On the way to the movie theater, I had to cross an area called "Festival
Garden", which was an indoor eating area, almost round, with different booths selling a
variety of food surrounding a place decked out in smoothened wood, which felt really
nice underfoot, too. Only a few visitors were there, but some stopped their munching
when beholding me. The entrance area of the cinema was laid out in the usual you might
expect - carpet. The personnel was friendly and professional, treating me as any paying
customer/audience member, regardless of my outfit or lack of footwear... just as it should be.
The movie itself was very intense, making its entrance with a scene fitting for barefooters as an audinece, with a young woman wading through calf-deep snow, wearing Wellingtons (rubber boots, for the non-British), then stopping, pulling them off her feet, and continuing her walk through the deep snow in her bare feet, then stopping at a vantage point above a wintery town, and her voice then telling us "I have a story to tell..." - and this is how the story of Sabine Kuegler and her life among the Fayu, an indigenous tribe in Papua from the age of five on, began. Especially the images of a lush and green jungle, of life far away from our over-developed western society, idyllic - but also sometimes harsh and brutal - made me shed tears occasionally. Among those very intense scenes was Sabine, as a teenager, losing her adopted Fayu brother, Auri, who died from tuberculosis. That traumatic experience broke her apart and she fled from the jungle she loved so much to live in her "native" home of Germany, realizing after finishing high school and entering the world of regular work, that the life here means not living, but functioning - an existence rather than a life... Those are feelings I, personally, can very much relate to, since my daily office work feels just the same - that is me fulfilling a role, being a functional part of a machine that is totally alienated from what human life truly means. As Robert Wolff wrote about the indigenous tribe of the Sng'oi in Malaysia: "They lived life. Life did not live them, as it does us". Incidentaklly, the Sng'oi have become extinct by assimilation into the Malay culture. And the Fayu in the movie were played by Malays... so, it might be, that some descendants of the original Sng'oi made an on-screen appearance as members of a native tribe of Papua.
At the end of the movie, Sabine returns to the true home of her heart, the jungle, and is welcomed
joyously by the Fayu as if she were one of her own. The message in the end is as she tells us:
One of those counterparts are my regular barefoot strolls in the park, and especially after taking in Sabine's message and positive spirit, I just had to go to my usual place of gathering energy and relaxation - and, with a nice spring day winding towards its end, to soak up a little late afternoon sun, too. As usual, I was able to draw positive energy from my direct contact of my bare soles with natural ground. After the impressions of the movie, I just had to feel that, instead of urban surfaces being the only thing underfoot on this day. Sand, grass and soil were once again my close friends on this walk, and I even found a spot where two daisies were growing close enough to serve as an extra element of a nicely composed barefoot photo:
Also, the warmth of the sun on moist and cool grass felt delightful, too...
The park also became once again backdrop for someone's fifteen minutes of fame, since photographers used the special mood and lighting of the late afternoon to take pictures of a young woman dressed in historical garb (somewhere between 18th and 19th century) - most likely a member of the theater ensemble of the neighboring Theater an der Ruhr...
On exiting the park, I took the opportunity to place my bare feet among some spring flowers, creating a daffodils and toes picture, and then spotting a piece of utterly non-barefoot German automobile history: an old Volkswagen Type I, called "Brezelkäfer" in German (literally translated "pretzel Beetle", due to the shape of the rear window. Since bent glass for a larger rear window could not be produced without extensive cost until 1953, the earlier models of the Beetle had separate, smaller flat rear windows, reminescent of a pretzel - hence the nickname).
A nice ending of a mild and sunny barefoot spring weekend. The good news for the coming week is the continuation of that weather until at least mid-week. With clear skies at night, I might be in for frosty kisses on my toes in the morning on my way to work, but still the predicted day temperatures call for flip-flops as office shoes. Another plan for next week is to purchase Sabine Kuegler's books, reading her personal views, thoughts and feelings to the pictures seen in the movie Dschungelkind.
March 19, 2011 - Saturday urban barefooting, shopping and a walk in the park... Even though it was not Sunday, I took the opportunity of nice spring weather to take an extra walk in the park... of course, with the nice conditions forecast to last well into next week, Sunday will be another barefoot walk in the park day - and next week will have me wear flip-flops at work again, too. But first things first. I started the day boosting my Buddha appearance even more by means of a razor, shaving off the 2 millimeters of hair left on my head. Around mid-day I got ready to go to town for some shopping and to continue the outdoor café season, this time visiting my usual café at the end of the shopping ped zone, right opposite the entrance of the Forum mall. Since I was not alone having the idea to enjoy a cup of coffee or some ice cream while sitting in the sun, most of the tables on the sunny side of the outdoor seating area were taken. I was alone, however, in being barefoot while sitting there. Even though the weather was inviting enough, no one else dared to bare his or her feet. Bad luck for those people - they never knew what they were missing... feeling warm sunlight on top of my feet as well as the warmth of sunlit pavement underfoot. A true delight, indeed.
After spending about an hour there, I decided that it was time to do the
shopping I planned to do, this time with a stop at the drugstore, since I
had to replenish my supplies in candles and buy a new can of foot care cream,
which is called Fuß-Butter in German. Browsing a little through the
cosmetics shelves, I found myself five new colors of nail polish to put onto my
toe nails. The next stop afterwards was the usual supermarket trip.
After arriving at home with my shopping bags, I saw that it was not too late in the afternoon and that the sun was still feeling warm enough to change into something more comfortable - swapping my cut-off cargo pants for a sarong-style purple piece of cotton cloth slung around my waist - and head off for a walk in the park to feel something more natural after spending more than an hour in the urban world...
After relaxing in the sun, I walked a bit more on Mother Nature's bare skin, enjoying the different textures underfoot, and then stood still in one spot on the grass, feeling coolness and slight moisture of the soft ground beneath my bare soles, closed my eyes and did my breathing meditation exercise to draw good and positive power from the Earth while pushing off negative thoughts and feelings on exhaling. I ended this session by sending some of my own positive energy and love back into the Earth for others to draw from, whenever they might need it.
After this energizing experience, I gazed around, taking in the special mood of the late-afternoon sun lighting up the park in hues of gold.
After arriving at home, I went to do some household chores - still barefoot, of course - such as the laundry... and since I was indoors, and it was a bit warmer in there, I decided to put the impression of a large and happy barefoot Buddha to the max, by just wearing the sarong while going to our apartment house's laundry room in the sub-basement.
This picture is yet another example of my humour and my self-esteem being strong enough to display to the world, that my beauty is a special one... after all:
Going down there fully skyclad might have been a bit too daring, since I am certainly not living alone in that house, and also met some people on the way down, as well as a couple of people passing by the laundry room from the underground car park to the elevator. After finishing my laundry, I was able to take off the sarong and remined skyclad for the rest of a nice barefoot day (including while writing this very entry). Barefoot plans for Sunday include another walk in the park - of course, I won't miss my regular barefoot Sunday hour of power - preceded by a barefoot visit at the movies, since there is a German film I wanted to see since it came out a few weeks ago: Dschungelkind (Jungle child), a film made from the autobiography of Sabine Kuegler, who came to the jungle of Papua with her family (Christian missionaries, with the father, a linguist, wishing to study an indigenous tribe called the Fayu) at the age of five... judging from the press reports as well as trailers and pictures, she lived a very barefoot life among the natives there.
And while the movie was produced, she was there as a consultant, happily going barefoot through the jungle as an adult, too. It seems that she still is a barefooter at heart and wherever she feels at home. That can also be seen in the picture gallery of her travels, including a return to the Fayu, the tribe depicted in the movie, in 2005. Here are two pictures of her from that web site, depicting her ease of being barefoot on the boat trip to the Fayu, as well as feeling the jungle floor with her bare feet:
All pictures of Sabine Kuegler are © Marc Rada & Sabine Kuegler I think, this is yet another movie that calls for being watched barefoot. And, of course, I should include that into my own little list of "barefoot movies" - note to myself: that one needs an overhaul anyway! And considering the setting of the movie (south-east Asia), the sarong style I wore today will be my clothing of choice for that on Sunday, too. I finished the barefoot day by having a smoke on my little balcony before going to bed - I was barefoot, nude and basking in the light of a full moon. However, I did not stay outside for too long, since the clear sky that had made the sun shine brightly during the day now let all the warmth evade into thin air, making temperatures drop to almost frosty cold levels... not the best conditions to be skyclad outdoors for more than a few minutes... I'm hoping for warmer days to arrive soon to be nude in nature again - nothing beats being barefoot all over outdoors on a sunny day (well, except for being there with other barefoot and skyclad kindred spirits).
March 17, 2011 - a lapse back to almost autumn weather...
As can be seen above and as I intended, I have again changed my hairdo to the
annually recurring extreme short, Buddha-like warm weather configuration...
March 16, 2011 - Feeling spring beneath bare soles (a mid-week update)... After last Sunday already promising spring to make its entrance with a flourish in the days to come after, Monday and Tuesday proved to be nicely mild days, especially Tuesday being a full-fledged spring day. I enjoyed a nice barefoot way to the office on Monday morning, with cool (but not cold) temperatures in the morning, enabling me to relax and refresh a little before the training sessions for the new project at work were about to start. Feeling cool and soft grass underfoot was just the right thing to be in touch with a bit of Nature before entering a seminar room and begin daily 8-hour-sessions of seminars, which are now taking place for the next four weeks - there is a lot of stuff to learn and I will take the opportunity to free my feet in that seminar as often as possible to feel more relaxed and concentrated...
Tuesday was the day I was looking forward to the most, as far as the weather forecast was concerned, since that promised a sunny day with temperatures rising to the aforementioned 18°C/64F in the shade. So, again, after a cool morning, I was able later on to really enjoy the feeling of spring sun on top of my bare feet and the really warm pavement underfoot during the mid-day break, when stepping out onto our company's parking lot to soak up a little sun after lunch - that day also was the first day to display my two new toe rings that had arrived by mail (among other things) on Monday - I had, again, ordered a little package of "hippie stuff" from my favourite mail order shop for stuff from India, such as incense, jewelry and clothing.
Due to the warmth on that Tuesday, I had chosen to pack my flip-flops into my bag as my "office shoes" of choice for that day - and those proved to be just right for that weather. Furthermore, I was able to slip out of those and freely wiggle my toes when sitting in the seminar room, making me feel less constricted. Since the lecturer is one of our own members of our internal training department, he did not have anything to say about it, knowing me for my barefooting for years. Therefore, I also wiggled my bare and beringed toes on Wednesday during the seminar session, slipping off my flip-flops on that day, as well. The Wednesday was quite cooler, with temperatures only slightly above 10°C/50F, due to colder air blowing in from the northeast. With cooler weather ahead in the next two days, I will continue being barefoot on the way to and from work, certainly, but will change back from the light cotton jacket to the thicker winter type... and my office shoes will again be the closed type - mostly to fit expectations of the office environment, since single-digit temperatures are commonly not fit to wear flip-flops... again, one of those stupid (IMO) social expectations to answer and obey.
At the end of this update, a few words about the current number one topic in the news:
I haven't mentioned it or commented
about my own feeling towards that as yet, since this did not majorly affect my barefooting,
which this diary is about. It had one small effect on my barefoot habits:
Of course, the events since March 11 are on my mind and in my thoughts, especially concerning the nuclear havoc, which is about to be the third major "accident" happening during my lifetime. I lived to see (and in one case literally lived through) three such incidents, ranging from the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979 over Chernobyle in 1986 - the one quite directly affecting me by the relative vicinity of Germany to that site - and now, in 2011, Fukushima-Daiichi. Facing the destructive force of the quake and the tsunami, I was once again reminded that whatever human beings might build to withstand the force of Nature, she will be the stronger one in the end. And, especially, the faith in the infallibility of technology has taken a series of blows and bleeds profusely from many wounds at the moment. It will survive, no doubt (unfortunately, in my opinion), but for the moment, it is severely hurt. That it seems to take destruction, suffering and death in large proportion to make people think and feel is "very sad only", to yet again use a fitting quote used by someone who is emotionally affected even by the slightest unnecessary injury and death.
March 13, 2011 - Looking back on a week of spring making its way here... The recovery from my back pain was coupled with spring slowly making its way to the region I live last week. One clear indication of winter ending is going to work and leaving the office during daylight, as the days are growing longer - for instance on Monday, I was able to take my after-office barefoot steps in the grass while looking at a sunset, which was almost fit for a western movie hero to ride towards the setting sun, while the letters "The End" appear on the screen:
Another indication were the day temperatures rising above 10°C/50F - although the early morning temperatures were still reminescent of winter, one even with almost freezing temperatures. By the end of the week, even night temperatures were mild enough to leave the padded winter jacket at home, and by Friday I wore my cotton hooded jacket over a t-shirt without feeling cold - and of course, before and after work my feet were bare.
According to weather forecasts, the weekend was going to bring a first taste of
spring, with temperatures slightly above 15°C/60F. And that weekend started with
a Saturday which was reserved for running a few errands, including the usual weekend
shopping trip. Before that, I had to pick up a small parcel from a print shop, that
was used as a deposit by the delivery company. It is a bit ironic, that I went barefoot
to pick up a parcel with accessories for my office shoes - cinnamon-filled inlay soles
which I use to prevent foot odor. Those inlays make my soles smell of christmas after
an office day. After picking up that parcel - unhassled, even though the shop owner
could not miss seeing my bare feet - I went into the town center, got out of the bus at
the stop near the ped zone shopping street and decided to walk up to the mall.
*) "Speldorf" is the name of the suburb where I live After finishing my drinks while getting several examples of "The Look"® at my clearly visible bare feet, I went on, entering the mall, went to the ATM and then to an electronics store, since I had to get new earphones for my MP3 player - it seems, that the cables on the in-ear models last only about a year before they break up inside, leading to drop-outs or one channel going dead completely. I was browsing the digital storage shelves, too, and then - spontaneously - decided to purchase an external 500 GB hard-disk drive, since disk space on my old computer's internal 60 GB drive and the first external HDD (160 GB) was getting sparse. Again, this occurance of shopping barefoot went by unhassled - in Germany, shop employees are more concerned about people leaving their money with them than about customers' footwear or the lack thereof. From there, I went to my usual weekend grocery shopping - again, unhassled and without noteworthy reactions from other people. The next day, Sunday, was equally mild, but a bit less sunny. So, when I went to my walk in the park, the sky was overcast, some of the grey clouds looking a bit threatening, as if they wished to drop a little rain... With the mild conditions, I wouldn't have minded that, really. In order to enjoy the ild weather, I decided to dress even more like the hippie kind of person I am, putting on my tie-dye skirt instead of pants, a black t-shirt with an orange and brown Ganesha print on it and my favourite brown hooded jacket. I wore a black scarf around my head to complete the "weird" outfit...
In addition to the prayer beads anklet on my right ankle, I had drawn an OM sign onto my right foot, reinforcing the notion to make every barefoot step on bare Earth a little invocation or prayer.
On my way to and into the park, I also looked out for Nature's signs of spring coming closer and I saw that some bushes were wearing new leaves and some also already showed bright blossoms, too:
After taking in those signs of new life making its entrance, I went into the park and saw that someone had already placed something for a spring cleaning or makeover of the paths there: a large heap of sand was lying in one of the open spots...
...and of course I just had to try out feeling that underfoot, even before it was spread onto the ground:
From there, it was again the usual barefoot exploration of different textures, such as sand, grass, soil, pine needles and also playing with the daisies that were now peeking out of the grass more and more... and in the end, I rested on a bench, looking at my soles which were again pleasantly Earth-colored from being in touch with Her for more than one and a half hour.
With this barefoot walk, another week had come to an end - one with catastrophic events in some places, considering the disaster in Japan, where once again the cataclysmic powers of the Earth had been unleashed and had proven dramatically that man-made technology is not infallible, as we could see from the explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. On a personal level, this weekend marks a little turning point, since this Monday my training sessions for working in a new project will start - this one dealing with answering written customer inquiries by e-mail for one of the largest energy supply corporations in Germany - which gets a new quality facing the most recent nuclear disaster at the other end of the world.
March 6, 2011 - The Sunday barefoot hour of healing power... As I've heard and read, the best one can do when suffering from back pain is to move around - as much as the pain allows, that is. After already trying out a bit of walking (see previous entry), I decided that the good weather was a perfect invitation to get out and take my usual barefoot stroll in the park, this time with the clear intent of drawing some healing energy from it, too. The weather clearly was on the barefooters' side, sunny, only a few fluffy white clouds, temperatures at 6°C/43F in the shade... and quite a few degrees more in the sun - that felt more like over 10°C/50F. And the sun already has enough power to warm up the ground, which can be felt especially well on the paved sidewalks on my way to the park:
On entering the park, I saw quite many people who had been lured to take an early afternoon walk by the sunnay weather. Some of them were walking their dogs, too. However, I was again the sole barefooter among them. And as soon as I left paved surfaces to feel the different natural surfaces, ranging from sand over soil to grass, I felt that the reamining slight sensation of pressure and occasional pain from the lumbago was subsiding and after a few steps on grass and soft soil was gone. I might not look too happy here (The auto-shutter clicked before I put on a smile), but I felt great...
After a while of relaxing and painless walking, I decided to take a little break and went to one of the old and weathered park benches, which was almost black - and nicely warmed by the sun, too. Some people passed me, giving me and my bare feet a friendly smile and one woman even nodding a greeting. It seems, that those people had read the article and remembered that most likely the barefoot man to be met walking barefoot in that park would be me. After a short break sitting on the bench (without doing silly tricks this time), I stood up and took another round through the park, enjoying the different textures and the warmth of the sun on grass and soil:
After more than an hour, I left the park and took the bus home, feeling very good and almost pain-free... I reckon, that this interlude of back pain will be over shortly. At least I received some healing power from this Sunday walk in the park.
March 4 - 6, 2011 - Fame can be painful... Yes, indeed, sometimes it feels this way. When I posed for that picture in the printed version of that interview about me, I had to perch on the backrest of a park bench, and lean back, pull up my feet for a sole shot and hold that position for a while. I already felt that this was a strain for my back, and a few days later, I felt slight pain, just like from muscle tension. That changed, however, when on Friday, at the office, I got up from my desk, and suddenly felt a pain like someone had taken a dagger and stabbed me... hello lumbago, not nice to meet you. What I've noticed though is that walking barefoot lessened the back pain next to zero, when it was still in the slight phase. And before that stab set it, I spent one of the breaks at the office outdoors, on the sunlit parking lot, slipped out of my shoes and enjoyed the feeling of the sun-warmed pavement underfoot. After the intense pain had set in, I was just able to move like an 80-year-old (or so it must've appeared), with pain stabbing at me on every step. I broke out in cold sweat (typical pain and shock reaction) at the slightest move. Even with painkillers taken, it still was excruciating. And when it was time to get out of the office, I did not think about taking off my shoes (yeah, right, bending down to take them off? No way!) to make my way home on bare feet. So, I walked very slowly to the bus stop, got on the bus and used one of those seats designated for the old and disabled (since the latter was true, I felt I had the right to do so...), and cherished the fact that it was a newer bus, with still OK shock absorbers. I also found me one of those seats when changing to the tram. On arriving at home, I felt the pain subsiding a little (very little, but still), so I could walk a little faster from the tram stop to my place and laid down in bed, finding a position where I could lie without too much pain. On Saturday, I spent half of the day in bed, trying out different positions, but felt, that I had to get up at some point to get some things done - plus: nature's call was also to be answered. So, I carefully got up, and found that the pain had subsided to an occasional feeling of pressure, rather than the stabbing sort. So, as it is said in that proverb "hard work pays off" (in German it's more movement-oriented, saying "sich regen bringt Segen"), I tried out walking - barefoot, of course - in my apartment, then went down to the gas station just across the road to get some soda and other stuff (a full shopping trip was out of the question as yet), and felt to my relief, that indeed moving around and especially walking barefoot again worked as to lessen the back pain considerably. Now, on Sunday, the pain has diminished a bit more (and I haven't taken any more painkillers since it set in on Friday). I have already put my laundry into the machine, enjoyed a little breakfast, and to heed that advice from the old proverbs quoted above, I will later on set out for a barefoot walk in the park - certainly without doing acrobatics on park benches! This entry also appears as a posting in the "Going Barefoot" thread on Tree of Souls, a fan-forum about James Cameron's Avatar.
March 2, 2011 - Enjoying a sunny pre-spring day at work plus benign curiosity... Spring certainly is just around the corner - and that's not a pun about my last name, but a reference to the season and - hopefully - really warm weather to come really soon. This week, the weather has decided to turn from the rainy and cool sort experienced on Sunday, during my interview, to sunny with a clear sky, which sends day temperatures up to almost 10°C/50F. However, a clear sky at night means slight frost in the morning. Just as today, when I walked barefoot on near-freezing dry ground to the tram stop to get to work.
On my way home after work, I was looked at by two young women, who were - untypically
for teenagers - not giggling, but smiling and then asked the typical questions:
I am now looking forward to enjoying more sunny days and feeling warm pavement underfoot, while spending my breaks outdoors and barefoot while at work.
March 1, 2011 - First feetback (bad pun intended) on the press interview... The positive reception at work about my barefooting interview continued today, when one of the IT people in charge of our company's intranet asked, if he might link to the article - I granted him permission, gave him the links to the online article as well as the PDF scan and a bit later our company intranet showed a new headline: "Our barefooter was interviewed by the local press"... so, if my employer presents me as "their" barefooter, I seem to have a good standing within that company. Another reaction was at the supermarket after work, when a couple was smiling at me, looking at my feet and the man then said "That thing about the feet was in yesterday's paper, right?" - strange way of impersonally addressing me... - which I confirmed with a nod and a smile, and then indicating my filled shopping cart, saying "and that's one of the carts I referred to". That elicited a slight laugh from the man, and they then went to the checkout. The third reaction was not about the newspaper article, but coming from a boy, primary school age, who came close, when I was packing my stuff into my shopping bags. He asked "Are you from India?" I looked at him slightly puzzled and mostly amused, answering "No, I'm not" He then asked "But why aren't you wearing shoes?" I grinned at him and said "Because it's comfier this way". He still looked at my feet disbelieving, but seemd to be content with that reply and sauntered off.
Feb. 28, 2011 - A barefooter in the local press...
Today the interview I had last Sunday was published in the local paper.
The article (in German language) can be viewed online, plus I have scanned the print version to be downloaded right here:
Here is a translation of the interview: The headline "Ein Mann, der anders auftritt" is a nice wordplay in German, since "auftreten" can have the meaning of either entering the stage/a scene or to tread.
Andreas Spring walks barefoot, even now, in winter. The former inhabitant of an
alternative trailer commune wears shoes at the office only.
by Annette Lehmann
In case you encounter a heavy-built man in the Raffelbergpark under the barren
trees of winter on some weekend, its most likely Andreas Spring. There were times
when the now 44-year-old man lived completely and constantly barefoot.
The thermometer reads 4.5°C, paths and lawns are soggy and muddy - why aren't you
wearing shoes?
For how long have you been doing this?
What are your limits?
When was the last time you had a cold?
And when was the last time you stepped on something like a wasp or glass shards?
Do people step on your toes often?
Even in crowds? Like, for instance at concerts or festivals?
Do you walk around differently, when being barefoot?
You wear nail polish and silver rings on your toes - that is an eyecatcher.
Do you use special care on your feet?
At which occasions do you wear shoes, if at all?
How did you show up for the job interview?
In 2001, you appeared in the press a few times as spokesperson for the
"Bauwagenplatz" at the Ruhrorter Strasse and also sued against the eviction -
in the end to no avail. How did it go on from there?
Captions from the print version (see above for the PDF link):
Well, so far for the translation. It could have turned out worse, for sure. So far, I haven't noticed any special sorts of "The Look"® triggered by that article, and also there haven't been negative comments on the online page of the newspaper - as yet. I had a nice reception of the article at work, since some co-workers discovered it in the morning paper and congratulated me on giving a nice interview. But hten, they have known me for my barefooting for years and have always responded to it in a friendly manner, so, no surprise there, really.
Feb. 27, 2011 - The Sunday barefoot hour with the press... As I wrote in my mid-week update (see below), today was the day of my appointment with the local press and a little report about my barefoot walking. About two hours before the appointment, I received a text message from the reporter on my mobile phone, where she confirmed that she was ready to do the interview, even though the weather was less than ideal - rainy, with temperatures just below 5°C/40F. Since at that time, there was only a slight drizzle in my area, I replied that such weather would not keep me from barefooting or the interview, and so I made ready for the little walk from my apartment to the park, dressing for a cool and wet day and also showing off one of my new Ganesha-printed T-shirts, which I purchased last week.
However, since the rain had increased, that shirt did not make it onto the photos
taken in the park, as I kept my jacket shut against the rain and slightly chilly
weather. The interview itself went by in a nicely informal way, me and the reporter
more or less chatting about my personal reasons and benefits of walking barefoot.
The rain had created quite a lot of puddles that seemed to just wait for my bare feet to happily splash in them and the sand, grass and soil were nicely soft and muddy underfoot, too, providing just the right sensation to make me feel as relaxed and refreshed as always during my Sunday barefoot "hour of power"...
With the article being published in the Monday paper, I am curious, how many people
will give me "The Look"® on my way to work tomorrow morning, based on having
read that article - after all, the WAZ "Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung" is the most-
read regional newspaper in the area I live in. It might be, that some people will
also react by asking "Aren't you that barefoot man who appeared in the newspaper today?".
Feb. 24, 2011 - A brief snowfooting interlude in the morning...
Feb. 23, 2011 - A mid-week update and an appointment with the press... Since the morning frost was not as harsh as the day before, I decided to make my way to work barefoot, with leg-warmers for extra protection. Since the days are getting longer, I arrived near the office around sunrise, with a nice occasion to take in some beautiful morning atmosphere:
With temperatures being as low as -2°C (28F), my feet lit up brightly pink, indicating the circulation again running at full throttle. I enjoyed a few steps on the grass next to the sidewalk, even though the ground was frozen hard beneath. And just before entering the office building (where I went upstairs and to my desk barefoot and stayed barefoot for the first hour of the work day), I again checked the color of my feet, finding to my delight, that they still had the fresh color of blood running hot in them:
In the early afternoon, I received a call and a message on my mobile phone, turning out to be a contact from the editor/reporter whom I encountered in the park last Sunday - and now, on next Sunday, I will have the press along, doing an interview with me about my barefooting, while enjoying my barefoot Sunday hour (or more than one) of power in the park.
Feb. 22, 2011 - Getting "The Look"®... - for wearing shoes! Now, that is something new, indeed. Cold temperatures below -6°C (21F) prompted me to don my office shoes on the way to work already, and some people, partcularly on public transport, now took double takes when looking at my feet and seeing them - or, rather, not seeing them, since they were hidden in shoes. I wonder, what people will do, as soon as temperatures are rising, and they see me wiggle my bare toes again.
Feb. 20, 2011 - "Are you an organized barefooter?" - Another unusual question,
It seems, that the usual and regular questions about being barefoot are replaced by more unusual ones - as enountered in the previous entry about professing or avowing barefooters - when encountering curious shoddists. This particular question was among a set of several questions I was asked during my regular barefoot Sunday stroll in the park, which was just as enjoyable, relaxing and refreshing for body, mind and spirit as ever. The walk started off on a cloudy, and slightly cool day, since temperatures were just above freezing level. Therefore, I wore my winter jacket rather than just the cotton cardigan-type hoodie.
Walking on the quite cool paved sidewalks set my feet aglow in an instant, indicating circulation running at full throttle. I also looked out for more signs of spring being close, and stopped to look at some bushes and small trees, only to see that indeed Nature was doing as she should, luring more green to peek out at the sometimes still cold world.
The different textures were again a real treat for bare feet, including even a walk on a short part of one of the paths, where slightly larger gravel (about one inch in size) was laid out, with the stones pressed into the soft soil, making it a short reflexology walkway...
And it was during my enjoying the feeling of soft grass and cool soil underfoot, when a woman chose that moment to leave the adjacent path, step onto the grass and walk up to me to confront me. I took out my ever-present earphones, greeted her, and the following little Q & A session began:
And with that final question, she introduced herself as a member of the editorial
board of a regional newspaper (the WAZ - Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung)
and asked me for my mobile phone number to get in touch with me...
Feb. 14, 2011 - "Excuse me, are you one of those professing barefoot walkers?" This was the question a man around fifty asked me on Monday morning, as I was commuting to work, changing from the subway/tram line to the bus bound for my workplace. It seems that he heard about people sharing experiences about barefooting via the internet and he also told me, that he had seen me walking barefoot quite often, including walking barefoot in snow, and voiced his respect and admiration by telling me that he takes his proverbial hat off to me and my barefooting. He also admitted that he likes walking barefoot on summer days - sometimes to the effect of getting blisters from barefooting on hot pavement. I encouraged him to try out barefooting in the mild seasons (starting in Spring), so that his soles would be trained by the time hot summer days arrived. A nice positive encounter, and since we talked quite audibly, some people around got the message of barefooting being pleasurable as well as healthy. He also agreed with me that shoes are for social reasons most of the time and that those are stupid reasons, too. Let's hope that our conversation triggered a little thinking in the other people witnessing our conversation - and who know, as it gets milder, I might encounter him barefoot in the morning at some point, too.
Feb. 13, 2011 - "The Lord of the Toe Rings"...
OK, the title might strike people as a bad pun, but yesterday I decided to return to my full set of foot jewelry, wearing three anklets on each ankle, all my toe rings (five, to be precise, three on my left foot and two on my right) and putting nail polish onto the nails of the toes I wore - and am wearing, right now, too - rings on. Two reasons prompted me to increase the "bling factor" on my toes: first, the nice weather - cloudy and sometimes sunny with temperatures again as high as 10°C (55F) - which was just right to add a bit of color to my toes and second, a recent discussion about "showing off your toes" on the SBL mailing list, where it was discussed why barefooters shouldn't be proud of being barefoot and emphasizing that by using foot jewelry or even painting the toe nails. Among those replying, the majority was more in favour of keeping the looks of bare feet "natural" and "pure", not adding anything too colorful, as to not draw unwanted extra attention to them. One toe ring or one anklet as a marker for being intentionally barefoot was given as an OK example, but these purists wrote, that even such small adournment was something like footwear, and truly being barefoot means no footwear of any kind. Therefore, I was among the minority of those barefooters who adourn their toes and feet more than just a little, living out the original poster's question if we shouldn't be proud of our bare feet to the max. So, with my bare feet wearing their Sunday best, I went out and walked from the apartment house where I live to the park nearby, already spotting one definite sign of Spring being near - male blossoms on hazel bushes by the sidewalk:
People suffering from hay fever might cringe, looking at those pollen factories in full bloom - usually hazel and birch pollen are the first to pester people suffering from pollen allergy. I am fortunate not to be among those people, and so I cherished that sight as a clear sign of the season bearing my name being very near, in fact. I mentioned the fact, that my last name is indeed "Spring" quite often - and, after all, it's also part of this web domain's name, too. Other signs of Spring being near were clearly visible on bushes and trees both on the way to and in the park, too.
I found the imagery on that last bush especially interesting, showing the circle of the seasons, since the old leaves of last fall and winter are still on it, together with new green buds... But there were also small and subtle signs on the ground, like the odd daisy poking out of the grass here and there...
Speaking of an increased "barefoot bling factor"... And, after discovering the femininity in the appearance of some trees, I also spotted another opening in a tree, reminding me of something else (see last Sunday's entry for the Freudian reference to such apertures...)
The main aim, however, was not to spot Freudian sexual symbolism, but to enjoy different textures underfoot on a mild afternoon - especially, since some spots had been sunlit, and were again feeling warm under my bare soles, such as the paved sidewalks on my way to the park:
On entering the park, I enjoyed the different slightly wet textures since there had been a little rain over the week, leaving especially the grassy areas nicely wet, and in some places slightly muddy, too.
Of course, I also went to the three Goddess trees, feeling the soft brown soil beneath my bare feet, again using this spot to do my energizing and meditative breathing exercise, drawing up good and positive powers from Mother Earth through my naked soles.
From there, I took more steps on the grass, finding soft and wet spots of bare soil, wood mulch, and then even happened to step into a real mud puddle, which was hiding in the grass, and which enabled me to have my toes not only slightly Earth-colored, but completely coated with chocolate-brown mud, hiding toe rings as well as nail polish.
To make the afternoon end in a nice and relaxed mood, I sat down on one of my favourite park benches and gazed into the late afternoon sun, as it was making its way to the western horizon...
After feeling sufficiently relaxed and energized, I left the park to get to the bus
stop and show my delightfully Earth-colored bare feet to the "normal" people zooming
by in their cars, and the astounded passengers, occasionally giving me "The Look"®, as usual.
Feb. 06, 2011 - The barefoot Sunday hour of power in the park...
Well, that second part of the headline sounds cryptic, doesn't it? I will solve that little mystery towards the end of this entry, with pictures, too.
With the mild temperatures continuing, the Sunday barefoot walk in the park was
once again obligatory and something to look forward to. Since there had only been
an occasional drizzle now and then over the last few days, there were no puddles or extreme
wetness, but the surfaces in the park felt soft, moist and cool underfoot.
To celebrate the mild weather, I walked mostly over the lawn areas, feeling the grass and soil underfoot, especially cherishing the softness of Mother Earth's skin, as it molded itself to my naked soles. Each of the different surfaces sent ripples of positive energy into my body, which intensified when I went to the trio of trees which I have encountered weeks ago as the botanic embodiment of the threefold Goddess. Standing on the soil in the center of that triangle of trees, I did my breathing meditation, exchanging the past week's emotional burdens and negative thoughts with new and fresh positive energy drawn from the Earth through my bare soles and upwards into my body with every breath I took.
After finishing that recharging of my emotional batteries, I walked slowly to the
group of park benches, sat down on one, watching the park life going on, including
a little motley pack of dogs playing, while their respective owners were watching
from afar. Clearly, the dogs had fun and at one point decided to bring some of that
fun to me, too, as the pack ran over to the bench I was sitting on, most of the dogs
passing me by and carrying on their spiel behind the bench. All but one, a light
brown mongrel with mischief on his mind, who thought that I should play with them, too.
He jumped and placed his forepaws on my lap, leaving earth-colored paw prints on my
grey pants, jumped off, turned around and did that once again. I laughed at his antics,
and he swiftly went off with the rest of the dogs, as they ran on, jumping, yapping and
pouncing each other.
Here's the different textures and surfaces which left my soles again nicely Earth-colored:
Now, to solve that cryptic line mystery mentioned in the beginning, I found symbols of femininity at that trio of trees, that felt like forming a spiritual hotspot in the middle between them and where I drew my positive energy for the coming week from.
At the roots of all three trees - the young one, symbolizing the Maiden Goddess, the
older one, standing for the Mother Goddess and the eldest one, representing the Crone -
there are apertures looking like entrances to hidden cave realms within the trees, be
they miniature residences for faerie folk or model versions of Kelutral,
the Pandoran Hometree of the Na'vi clan of Omaticaya, as featured in James Cameron's
Avatar.
In case of the Maiden Goddess tree, that resemblance is a bit weaker, but since Freudian psychologists might happily concur, that these are vaginal symbols, old Siegmund himself might have said "Sometimes, a crack in a tree is just a crack in a tree".
Nevertheless, finding those apertures in that special group of trees once more strengthens my faith in that place being of special spiritual meaning. I hope, that on warmer days, I will be able to connect to that place some more by sitting down there and meditating.
Feb. 05, 2011 - Barefoot Saturday shopping in mild air Woops - and suddenly it's 11°C (52F) outside... wasn't it just three days ago, when I was walking barefoot on ice? But since the weather forecasts has been telling me so, I was not too surprised by the mild spell, which already began on Friday evening, when temperatures had been on the rise the whole day through and had arrived at the 10°C mark by the time my office day was over. So, I went barefoot to mid-town, to do my usual weekend shopping. On public transport, reactions were almost non-existent. After exiting the tram at the underground central station stop, I went into the mall, to the ATM, the tobacconist and then into my usual supermarket. "The Look"® happened only occasionally, and I did my shopping unhassled.
After paying for my grocery and yummy things at the checkout, I pushed my cart to one of
the little tables, where customers can pack their bags. I had my MP3 player turned off,
and the earphones out while paying and when packing my shopping bags, when I heard a small
girl, about 3 years old, call out "Daddy, look there..." and after a few seconds again,
a bit more urgently "Daddy, look THERE...", then heard a male voice "Yeah, dear, I'm looking...
I'm looking..." It took him a few seconds to realize that she was indicating my bare
feet, to which he then replied "Oh, yeah, that man's not wearing shoes... so what?"
The woman was still standing next to me, then asking "And why is it that you walk barefoot?"
to which I gave the usual reply that I feel better walking barefoot, at which she nodded
and said "oh, right, your feet aren't crmaped up in shoes, you don't get corns...".
It seems like she knew about the pleasure of walking barefoot. I then told her that it's
also a health issue, since it's better for my joints, which she also confirmed, saying that
walking barefoot on natural surfaces like a beach is indeed a healthy thing to do.
Feb. 02, 2011 - Barefoot Groundhog Day, and a frosty barefoot mid-week update
This Wednesday marks two events: the middle of the barefoot week in frosty conditions
and Groundhog Day... which is, as we know, not only the title of a nice comedy movie
starring Bill Murray, but also a real-existing holiday in the United States, celebrated
as depicted in the movie in the little town of Punxsatawney, Pennsylvania. The groundhog
is named Phil, just as in the movie, and according to common beliefs, winter will stay
longer, if Phil sees a shadow (which is told to the gathered audience by an interpreter who
understands groundhoggish language).
In case you wish to know more about Groundhog Day and wish to see Phil's prediction in a video on the web, just visit the official homepage of the Groundhog Foundation of Punxsatawney, PA. As far as my barefooting is concerned, this week has started with frosty conditions in the morning, early temperatures as low as about -5°C (23F) and dry weather. On Monday, the temperatures never climbed above frost level, so that I was able to spot a barefoot track preserved in the rime which I had left on the same day in the morning
I had made use of bag balm quite generously in the morning, so that my feet were shielded well enough from the frosty nibbles at my toes. And even in the evening, when temperatures had risen a little towards frost level, my feet did not feel too cold, even when waiting at the bus stop.
Tuesday was yet another frosty morning, which I braved with bag balm, enabling me to present shiny, happy feet to the world at large as well as to the colleagues in the office...
...however, like the sword of Damocles, the bane of happy bare feet was hovering over them, as I had to slip into my office shoes at some point.
Wednesday started with temperatures only slightly below frost level, but with a special danger to traffic, since it had rained on frozen ground overnight, leaving a layer of ice on the sidewalks. Since I had to get out for work early, most of the sidewalks had not been treated with salt. Contrary to the typical expected even surface, the ice was feeling like a layer of small grit spread all over the sidewalk, providing surprisingly good grip for bare soles. I never slipped walking on that special winter surface.
Of course, I used bag balm as the typical shield against the cold, which proved just perfect to prevent frost damage to bare toes. At the office, I once again showed shiny, happy bare feet to the world, before slipping them - reluctantly - into the office shoes depicted above.
For the rest of the week, I might be able to omit the bag balm, since temperatures are forecast to rise, with another mild spell with temperatures above 10°C (50F) arriving by the weekend. It seems, that Phil's prediction of an early Spring comes true for my bare feet. |
| View April & May 2011 entries | Back to my barefoot page (Part 6) | View January 2011 entries |
