When my daughter, Dona Marie, came to see me over Mother's Day, she gave me a pedicure. I have always had rather pretty feet, or so I think. She did a beautiful job and finished off with a very nice massage and pink polish on the nail part. A very wonderful Mothers Day gift in my opinion and I do thank her for that. Wish she lived with me!
I must confess that due to the development of a little problem called Morton's Neuroma, my second toe now has a tendency to want to point skyward. Not only is this uncomfortable but it detracts from the beauty of my foot. It also sometimes makes walking long distances a real challenge. Nonetheless, it is what it is and until I can carve out a block of time when I do not need my foot, I will live with the condition. I suppose I can just cut a hole in the top of my shoe and let toe #2 poke out into the outside world, but I am not quite ready to go that route. It would definitely be a conversation starter, or a very awkward moment when making new acquaintances. I am missing the point here.
Fast backward to Nickerson, Kansas 65 years ago. Plus or minus on that. We lived on a dirt road without benefit of running water and bath night occurred on Saturday night. Now since we were basically heathens running the streets and did not attend church, I do not know why Saturday night was special. I do not remember if I have explained that bath situation to you or not, but I will touch on it briefly. Bath time consisted of a round metal tub which mother filled with water heated on the stove. Baby Dorothy was always first since she was little. Then Mary followed by Donna and then me. By this time the water was getting a little gray and had a scum on top which gave a whole new meaning to "bath." I do not remember how, when or where the older kids took their baths, but I strongly suspect Jake was a river rat. Josephine must have privacy because she had actual breasts! Mom and dad were always a mystery to me.
So back to the feet. In the fall we all got a brand new pair of shoes for the first day of school. There were 2 days a year that were sacred. Every Sunday and the first day of school Money was saved all year so when it came time momma would set down with dad and open the Sears and Roebuck catalog. The middle of the catalog was where there was an outline of a foot and we each took a turn at standing on the outline while mother figured out our size. Louella-size 4, Donna-size 3...you get the idea. Then we were given a choice of color. We could have brown or black. My God! I remember when saddle oxfords came into being and how bad I wanted a pair. They were white with black or white with brown. I might as well have wanted the moon. Brown it was for me and brown for all the other kids so one did not feel privileged. Now comes the part you are not going to believe.
When the order was all filled out with size and color (brown) the total amount owed plus the postage was figured and the amount was carefully counted out, placed in an envelope and sealed. The amount was written on the outside along with the name and address the shoes should be sent to when ready. This money was placed inside the order blank which was placed in the envelope from the Sears and Roebuck catalog and mailed off to the head office. There was never a question about whether it was safe to send money through the mail or not. That was just how it was done. Then we began the wait for our shoes to come. It usually took 5-6 weeks and the day they arrived was like the second coming! Our shoes were here! Of course we were allowed to try them on, but we had to wash our feet first and be sure they were dry. Then they were placed carefully under the bed to await the first day of school.
I can recall how proud we were as we traipsed off to school in our new shoes. And we wore those shoes until about the first of March. By then our feet had grown enough that our shoes were getting tight. At that point, Josephine went shoeless, and I stepped into her "hand me downs". They were a little too big, but I tied them tight and they stayed on my feet pretty much. My shoes were handed down to Donna, Donna's to Mary and you get the picture. By summer we were all through with shoes and we ran barefoot every where we went.
Did I tell you we had chickens running loose in the yard along with Muscovy Ducks? Kansas is hot, humid and the soil in Nickerson was mostly dust. I guess you would call it sandy. Of course! That is where they pick Sand Hill Plums by the bushel basket! I can recall running my toes down into the sand and thinking that this was surely heaven. We ran barefooted across fields and through the cemetery and into Bull Creek. Of course we ran through the chicken poop and the duck poop. We were kids, that was what we did. When bedtime came there was one rule and that was we HAD to wash our feet before we got into bed. And we did. There was a basin in the kitchen and momma made sure we went to bed with clean feet. To this day, no matter where I am, or what I have been doing, my feet are going to be clean before I go to bed. Usually I have socks on all day, but not always shoes, so my feet are not dirty, but unless I am dead tired my feet are going to get a quick rinse, just in case there might be a little dust or goose poop on them! One can not be too careful you know.
When I write about my days of long ago I get very nostalgic. I miss my momma and I guess I always will. I miss the old home place although it is no longer there. I guess what I miss most is that I had someone to take care of me and someone who had to love me. When I was young all I wanted was to get older and get out on my own. I wish I knew then what I know now! I really think life would be much better lived in reverse.
I must confess that due to the development of a little problem called Morton's Neuroma, my second toe now has a tendency to want to point skyward. Not only is this uncomfortable but it detracts from the beauty of my foot. It also sometimes makes walking long distances a real challenge. Nonetheless, it is what it is and until I can carve out a block of time when I do not need my foot, I will live with the condition. I suppose I can just cut a hole in the top of my shoe and let toe #2 poke out into the outside world, but I am not quite ready to go that route. It would definitely be a conversation starter, or a very awkward moment when making new acquaintances. I am missing the point here.
Fast backward to Nickerson, Kansas 65 years ago. Plus or minus on that. We lived on a dirt road without benefit of running water and bath night occurred on Saturday night. Now since we were basically heathens running the streets and did not attend church, I do not know why Saturday night was special. I do not remember if I have explained that bath situation to you or not, but I will touch on it briefly. Bath time consisted of a round metal tub which mother filled with water heated on the stove. Baby Dorothy was always first since she was little. Then Mary followed by Donna and then me. By this time the water was getting a little gray and had a scum on top which gave a whole new meaning to "bath." I do not remember how, when or where the older kids took their baths, but I strongly suspect Jake was a river rat. Josephine must have privacy because she had actual breasts! Mom and dad were always a mystery to me.
So back to the feet. In the fall we all got a brand new pair of shoes for the first day of school. There were 2 days a year that were sacred. Every Sunday and the first day of school Money was saved all year so when it came time momma would set down with dad and open the Sears and Roebuck catalog. The middle of the catalog was where there was an outline of a foot and we each took a turn at standing on the outline while mother figured out our size. Louella-size 4, Donna-size 3...you get the idea. Then we were given a choice of color. We could have brown or black. My God! I remember when saddle oxfords came into being and how bad I wanted a pair. They were white with black or white with brown. I might as well have wanted the moon. Brown it was for me and brown for all the other kids so one did not feel privileged. Now comes the part you are not going to believe.
When the order was all filled out with size and color (brown) the total amount owed plus the postage was figured and the amount was carefully counted out, placed in an envelope and sealed. The amount was written on the outside along with the name and address the shoes should be sent to when ready. This money was placed inside the order blank which was placed in the envelope from the Sears and Roebuck catalog and mailed off to the head office. There was never a question about whether it was safe to send money through the mail or not. That was just how it was done. Then we began the wait for our shoes to come. It usually took 5-6 weeks and the day they arrived was like the second coming! Our shoes were here! Of course we were allowed to try them on, but we had to wash our feet first and be sure they were dry. Then they were placed carefully under the bed to await the first day of school.
I can recall how proud we were as we traipsed off to school in our new shoes. And we wore those shoes until about the first of March. By then our feet had grown enough that our shoes were getting tight. At that point, Josephine went shoeless, and I stepped into her "hand me downs". They were a little too big, but I tied them tight and they stayed on my feet pretty much. My shoes were handed down to Donna, Donna's to Mary and you get the picture. By summer we were all through with shoes and we ran barefoot every where we went.
Did I tell you we had chickens running loose in the yard along with Muscovy Ducks? Kansas is hot, humid and the soil in Nickerson was mostly dust. I guess you would call it sandy. Of course! That is where they pick Sand Hill Plums by the bushel basket! I can recall running my toes down into the sand and thinking that this was surely heaven. We ran barefooted across fields and through the cemetery and into Bull Creek. Of course we ran through the chicken poop and the duck poop. We were kids, that was what we did. When bedtime came there was one rule and that was we HAD to wash our feet before we got into bed. And we did. There was a basin in the kitchen and momma made sure we went to bed with clean feet. To this day, no matter where I am, or what I have been doing, my feet are going to be clean before I go to bed. Usually I have socks on all day, but not always shoes, so my feet are not dirty, but unless I am dead tired my feet are going to get a quick rinse, just in case there might be a little dust or goose poop on them! One can not be too careful you know.
When I write about my days of long ago I get very nostalgic. I miss my momma and I guess I always will. I miss the old home place although it is no longer there. I guess what I miss most is that I had someone to take care of me and someone who had to love me. When I was young all I wanted was to get older and get out on my own. I wish I knew then what I know now! I really think life would be much better lived in reverse.
