October 17th, 2025

Feet. 

In fact, these are my feet. I can tell by the Frodo toes, the prominent veins and the sneaker tan.  Dead Giveaway.  So what's the deal with the feet?

Well, feet are feet. Usually they are not an especially attractive part of the human body but of course they weren't created for that. They are intended to be functional; to bear the sometimes impressive weight of, not just the attached human being but also whatever that human is carrying or lifting!    They act as stabilizers so we don't fall over and shock absorbers for any and all impacts.  Feet are intended to allow us to walk, run, tiptoe, climb, skate, slide, dance and stand for hours at a time. We use them hard.

Sure sure, some folks take good care of them, not merely making sure they are clean but also lotioned, massaged, painted and bejeweled.  Oooo, pretty!   I make sure my feet are clean of course, lotioned when I think about it and shod most of the time.   But I'm not careful. Or at least I'm not careful enough.  And I know that because I have, at one time or another, broken most of the toes, some more often than others, as well as a few other foot bones, to say nothing of the occasional cuts from broken seashells, burns from hot sand and nips from cranky crabs.

But I, eventually, learned to slow down a little bit, be more careful and to always, always wear shoes and time passed, (as it does) until one day I realized that it had been quite some time since I had broken a toe or cut my foot or any other ridiculous thing.

The universe must have  heard my bold claim and laughed because suddenly my right foot is injured.  I didn't bash into a table leg or drop a bowling ball on my foot (at least that I recall) so I'm not exactly certain how it happened but one day, while walking, I realized that I was limping a little bit and strangely, the top of my right foot hurt.  Odd.  So when I got home, I took off sock and shoe to take stock of things.  There was no cut, no blood, no bruise BUT the top of my right foot was a little puffy indeed and walking was uncomfortable so I did what we always do in such cases in this house. I applied ice.

Ice is tricky to put on your foot, especially if you are a wiggly person like myself who has difficultly sitting still for long periods of time. So I had to come up with a better solution.  How do you hold an ice pack in place on the top of your foot and still stay mobile?   The answer my friends is a small ice pack and a sock.  I give you, my flamingo ice pack!!

It was a fun, silly Christmas Stocking gift quite awhile ago and it's been sitting in the freezer ever since then. Finally it was put to use!  And it works great!  Look funny, but works great and that is what matters.

I did a little research and odds are that either it's a teensy little fracture OR a pulled/torn tendon/ligament.  Well of course it is. What a stupid thing to have happen, again with NO idea how it happened.  But turns out my instincts are good. The solution was ice (!!), ibuprofen, rest  and the one thing I didn't think of, compression.

Great  idea.  I poked around in the medicine closet and eventually turned up with a 3" ace bandage and proceeded to wrap my foot. It does help, it does feel much better. ahhhhh.  

The downside being that it's bulky and my shoes do not fit with the wrap on.  So Tim suggested that I wear his shoes instead.  HAHAHAHAHAHAH!  Oh wait, it really does work on the right foot.  But the left foot is perfectly fine and normal and I rattle around in Tim's shoes like a marble in a cigar box on that foot. Seriously, I put it on, took one step and immediately stepped right back out.  heeheehee!  The solution?  One of each.

Does it look ridiculous?  Yes.  Do I care? Not much, no. Because it works and I seem to have passed the age where I give much of a damn what other people think.  Who knows, maybe I'll start a new fashion trend?  Remember a few decades ago when the little girlies were all wearing mismatched earrings?   There you go.

Feet are exceptionally complicated body parts.  In one foot alone there are 26 bones, most of them very tiny.  There are also 33 separate joints and it's all supported by tendons, muscles and ligaments that must work together for stability and mobility. Wow!  

Eventually it will heal, I've already seen signs of improvement and that makes me happy.  But in the meantime I won't be doing any hiking.  Instead, I'll be hobbling along with a flamingo in my sock and mismatched shoes on my feet.   Pretty sure you'll recognize me if you see me and then you can make the decision whether or not to acknowledge me.  LOLOL!!!   I promise  you , it won't hurt my feelings at all.  But it will make me laugh :)

Have a wonderful weekend y'all.