Shoeless on Chilly Days

I’ve dashed out in the snow without my shoes to get the mail. I don’t recommend this! Yet, chilly days may be okay if you’re otherwise bundled. It’s not that uncommon anymore to see folks at the supermarket in winter coats and flip-flops, even parkas and flip-flops. Such folks show great bravery and hopeful thinking....

On a cool day in grad school, I noticed a classmate, dressed in jeans and long-sleeved shirt and down vest and bare feet, strolling with books and coffee mug to class or to study somewhere. Such a fun incongruity, for my friend had obviously gotten ready for the day but left shoes behind. Similarly I’ve headed outside on rainy days, with my rain hoody and umbrella, and nothing on my feet.

Concrete doesn't hold heat well, which I remembered when I had an "Oh, heck" moment visiting a favorite antique mall in Illinois, one of those close-to-the-highway places with concrete floors and dealers' booths set up with wooden acoustic panels with holes for hanging things. Dressed for the cool autumn day while on a road trip, I went in, asked if it was okay to go barefoot, and sighed peaceful as I followed my toes around the familiar displays and checked for new treasures since my last visit. I was there fifteen or twenty minutes, I suppose, and my poor dumb feet on that floor were so chilly by the time I ambled to the cash register! But it's a warm memory nevertheless.

A neighbor and I used to visit in our driveways on 40-degree afternoons, both of us shoeless as we went out to our mailboxes. That incongruity was pleasantly mischievous—layers of warm clothes, and bare feet. It actually felt comfortable, at least for a few minutes, though I’m sure passersby wondered what the hell we were thinking.