The "Feet" Thing
Feet = 94
Toes = 830 (some feet were in socks, so I didn't count their toes)
Paws = 21
I numbered entries as they came in from 1-41 and then using a random number generator, I came up with #24 that happens to be......
Cara from January One
I didn't get to finish the prize (last night was a knitting night instead), so I guess you'll find outwhat it is when it shows up ;) Congrats! And thanks everyone for playing!
Now to explain what's behind my love of feet. Some of you may be disappointed. :)
I like feet because they're amazing. Anatomically, our feet are perfectly balanced to hold all of our weight. If you didn't have a pinky toe, you'd just fall over if you tried to stand on tippy toe. It would be difficult to walk without all our toes. The way our feet move and bend allows us to walk. And with every step, we're just a split second away from landing flat on our faces.
I think my fascination with feet started with dancing. I started Ballet at the age of 10. I had always wanted to be a ballerina, I had taken long ribbons out of my mother's sewing box and wrapped them up to my thighs to look like a ballerina. Then I'd dance around the living room in a leotard to classical music. I was on toe shoes by 14, when I learned all the nifty things about balance and the shape of one's foot. The way one must align the ankle to shift the balance of weight from all 5 toes to one or two toes so that one doesn't break one's ankle. My feet, being an integral part of my dancer's life, were watched very carefully for signs of stress fractures, bruised bones, etc... I watched my feet change as my toe nails got shorter and shorter (you had to keep them clipped to the skin so you didn't rip them off in toe shoes, so they never got a chance to grow out), my arch got more muscular, and my toes began to loose feeling (I still can only feel pressure, but no pain in my left big toe, although that may have more to do with the 1.5" long splinter I got jammed in there).
During my "rebellious" teenage years I left the structure of ballet behind and moved on to modern dance (my true dancing love), where my feet were unfettered. I learned to manipulate my feet in strange ways to make the shape I envisioned. I learned that this was OK. I danced barefoot on a badly varnished wood stage, and my feet still bear the scars from floor burns.
I didn't wear my shoes to a religious scripture study class once in High School(I stuck them in my backpack), and the teacher told me I had to put them on. I replied with "Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy" (Joshua 5:15).
My feet are always rough and dirty on the bottoms because I just can't be bothered to put shoes on to walk to the mailbox or take out the trash, even in winter. There is a pile of shoes near my front door for this same reason. My feet walked me to school countless days so that I could get to college, and then they walked me to my college campus (I still don't have a license, so my feet take me pretty much everywhere). My feet walked me "down the aisle", my feet have given "airplane rides" to babies, my feet have taken barefoot midsummer night strolls where I've cried at the beauty of the Earth. My feet are my history, and so are yours. Seeing all your feet and the way in which you choose to present them has been like seeing an intimate, usually hidden part of you all. I see your history and your past in your feet.
Perhaps I'm a bit sentimental or maybe just weird (didn't we all know THAT already?), but hey, none of you HAD to post your feet. Really, I think I just overanalyze, and C would agree with me, I'm sure. But isn't the point of life to find joy in the little things?
M
Toes = 830 (some feet were in socks, so I didn't count their toes)
Paws = 21
I numbered entries as they came in from 1-41 and then using a random number generator, I came up with #24 that happens to be......
Cara from January One
I didn't get to finish the prize (last night was a knitting night instead), so I guess you'll find outwhat it is when it shows up ;) Congrats! And thanks everyone for playing!
Now to explain what's behind my love of feet. Some of you may be disappointed. :)
I like feet because they're amazing. Anatomically, our feet are perfectly balanced to hold all of our weight. If you didn't have a pinky toe, you'd just fall over if you tried to stand on tippy toe. It would be difficult to walk without all our toes. The way our feet move and bend allows us to walk. And with every step, we're just a split second away from landing flat on our faces.
I think my fascination with feet started with dancing. I started Ballet at the age of 10. I had always wanted to be a ballerina, I had taken long ribbons out of my mother's sewing box and wrapped them up to my thighs to look like a ballerina. Then I'd dance around the living room in a leotard to classical music. I was on toe shoes by 14, when I learned all the nifty things about balance and the shape of one's foot. The way one must align the ankle to shift the balance of weight from all 5 toes to one or two toes so that one doesn't break one's ankle. My feet, being an integral part of my dancer's life, were watched very carefully for signs of stress fractures, bruised bones, etc... I watched my feet change as my toe nails got shorter and shorter (you had to keep them clipped to the skin so you didn't rip them off in toe shoes, so they never got a chance to grow out), my arch got more muscular, and my toes began to loose feeling (I still can only feel pressure, but no pain in my left big toe, although that may have more to do with the 1.5" long splinter I got jammed in there).
During my "rebellious" teenage years I left the structure of ballet behind and moved on to modern dance (my true dancing love), where my feet were unfettered. I learned to manipulate my feet in strange ways to make the shape I envisioned. I learned that this was OK. I danced barefoot on a badly varnished wood stage, and my feet still bear the scars from floor burns.
I didn't wear my shoes to a religious scripture study class once in High School(I stuck them in my backpack), and the teacher told me I had to put them on. I replied with "Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy" (Joshua 5:15).
My feet are always rough and dirty on the bottoms because I just can't be bothered to put shoes on to walk to the mailbox or take out the trash, even in winter. There is a pile of shoes near my front door for this same reason. My feet walked me to school countless days so that I could get to college, and then they walked me to my college campus (I still don't have a license, so my feet take me pretty much everywhere). My feet walked me "down the aisle", my feet have given "airplane rides" to babies, my feet have taken barefoot midsummer night strolls where I've cried at the beauty of the Earth. My feet are my history, and so are yours. Seeing all your feet and the way in which you choose to present them has been like seeing an intimate, usually hidden part of you all. I see your history and your past in your feet.
Perhaps I'm a bit sentimental or maybe just weird (didn't we all know THAT already?), but hey, none of you HAD to post your feet. Really, I think I just overanalyze, and C would agree with me, I'm sure. But isn't the point of life to find joy in the little things?
M
posted by Miriam | 2:28 PM
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