It was late last fall.  My toenails were painted a nice shade of sparkling beige but as the paint began to wear away from the big toe on my left foot, I noticed something a bit strange.  It looked as if it was turning black.  A more thorough investigation revealed that something had apparently fallen on my toe and did, indeed, cause some damage.  I don’t remember just what may have happened to cause the injury.  Perhaps my pain threshold is set pretty high or it was just one of those things that happened and due to the fact that the space left in my memory is a bit more crowded than it was 30 years ago, I deleted it.  I guess it doesn’t really matter.  I survived and the toe did too and now, after several long months, the old nail was getting loose and last week I decided to trim away as much as I could rather than leave it there and let it catch on something.  I love sparing myself from shocks like that.  I have enough gray hair.  Three fourths of it was willing to depart and the other fourth will follow in the days ahead.  It’s probably one of the ugliest things I have ever seen.  It’s all bumpy and confused looking and I’m willing to bet it won’t look normal for several months.

For work, we are required to wear sensible supportive shoes that protect our feet from danger.  Reluctantly I began wearing tennis shoes but for some reason I really don’t like tennis shoes.  As I sit here looking down at my toe I have to wonder why again, we can’t wear sandals at work during the summer months.  This toe thing happened while wearing sensible shoes that I hate.  Mine are plain white and quite comfortable but the leg of my jeans won’t stay down to cover the tops of them so they look stupid.  It sort of looks like my feet are a separate entity that I snap on before work.  One night while shopping, my cart and I strolled past the rather loud, neon selection of comfortable shoes for women.  Some of those shoes look like spare parts from an amusement park.  It doesn’t bother me when other people buy them, wear them and like them but they just aren’t for me.  I’ve never fully understood the shoe fetish behavior afflicting countless women.  I’m sure they purchase a pair in every color so they are always able to mix and match to their heart’s content.  I am not that woman.  If I have a pair of shoes I like for work I will wear them until they wear out.  I’m the same way with purses.  I find a nice neutral colored one with a nice long strap on it so that I can fling it over my shoulder and I’m good until it wears out.  I’m not a big fan of the models you have to lift onto your shoulder and tuck under your arm.  It feels like a growth.  I don’t like it.  I suppose it’s safe to say I do not have the “Shoe & Purse” addiction like so many women do and because of this, my checkbook and lack of a good paying job thank me frequently.  Eventually my cart arrived near the work boots for men section and I pondered.  These boots are made for hard working men that rarely sit at a desk to complete their daily duties.  Hmmm, why wouldn’t they work just as well for a woman that rarely sits at a desk to complete her daily duties?   I tried on a few and left the store with my very own pair of leather, tough as nails work boots.  They took some getting used to as they were very stiff but I can’t say my feet have given me any grief since wearing them.  They feature high tops so they offer support to my ankle and grab hold of the legs of my jeans holding them down where they should be.

I’m happy that Summer is on it’s way but this season shift puts me back into the shoe dilemma, should I decide to wear capris.    I won’t be wearing my boots with them.   I suppose I will resort to my tennis shoes but this is where my beef with not being able to wear sandals comes in.  I say, why not?  I was wearing sensible, toe covering shoes when my toe took the nasty blow that altered the beauty of my nail for months.  At this point you’re saying, “Ah ha!  There’s your reason, you idiot!” but I say, the sensible shoes didn’t protect me at all and had I been wearing sandals, my feet would have been cooler and happier in the store with the thermostat that only allows our air conditioning to take us into the lower 80’s and the mystery of how my toenail turned black might not be a mystery.  I would have most likely let out some sort of colorful verbiage that would have created a rather interesting memory and I would also know why my toenail resembles the rough and bumpy texture of a gravel road!