Crocs and Earth Shoes

In my Walden Pond post I mentioned Earth Shoes and again in my post yesterday when I was talking about Melissa wearing them. Footwear has always been a big deal for me. My children wore really good shoes as babies, when they had them on that is. Melanie's shoes took on a more "natural" look as we seemed to mail order hers from some ad in "Mothering" Magazine. Melissa did not have the benefit of us reading that publication when she was just learning to walk, but still her shoes were good ones.
Both my girls had tiny Birkenstocks. So cute. We should have bronzed some of them. What a statement that would have made !
I have owned one pair of high heels in my life. Wore them once and that was enough. My mother used to tell me I wore "Nun shoes" which I suspect was in testimony to their functional look as opposed to making a fashion statement.
My choice in footwear is still dictated by comfort and care for the feet. Barefoot is always my preference, but there are places where "barefoot" just doesn't work.
So, I wear Crocs, Earth Shoes, Birkenstocks, Merrell hiking boots and of course Running shoes. That's about it for shoes. Oh I have a couple pairs of Swedish Clogs too. But they are for dressy occasions. Crocs have to be the most comfortable shoe around. Its like walking on spongy ground. I do like to wear socks with them to absorb any sweat. They are perfect for working in the garden, no socks on then, as I can just hose them off while still on my feet before heading in the house. They are really non slip too. I am always telling people how great they are. Mine are about a year old, maybe a bit older actually and show no wear at all. Only the little Croc symbols have come off the straps. Don't get hooked into buying the cheep look a likes from Walmart or the other stores. Go for the real thing. Its well worth the money !
I am kinda proud of my feet, yeah I know that sounds so silly. It started way back in 1977, when I was working at the hospital. Had to do some traction set up with this gorgeous new Orthopedic Doctor. He had the full head of curly black hair, wore cotton, had on Birks, drove some sort of VW. What more could a girl want in the 1970's ? Anyway, he was showing me how his second toe was so much longer than the others and how it kinda hung over the end of his Birk. Strange conversation I know, but when you are young, stuff like that comes out of your mouth easily. Not the same rules for small talk when you are hippy like and in your youth.
Of course he wanted to know if my toes were like that too. So I pulled off my sock and showed him my foot.
He stood there and said the words I will never forget. "You have the most beautiful feet I have ever seen, they are perfect". Naturally I was swooning at this point. In retrospect, I am not so sure I would swoon now. He looked at my foot and asked if I minded sharing it with another Doctor that was still making rounds, I quickluy replied, "Oh sure, no problem". He paged his buddy, who had the same response upon seeing my foot. This guy was old, really old, maybe 48 ish. So his compliments didn't matter. He had on a double knit Leisure suit anyway. Yuck !
So you see the problem of my foot pride was born on that very same day. Before that though, I had always worn, "healthy" shoes as my family called them.
In the last 30 some years, I have had chance to have my feet checked out a couple times by M.D's. And always the same comments, " you have perfect feet".
I just beam. Glow with pride. Can you imagine, beaming with pride over FEET ??? Hey, you take what you can get in life for compliments.
One such Doctor asked if he could x-ray my feet, no fee, just to use as a model for the perfect foot. It was as if I was asked to pose for a glamour magazine !
Talk about boosting my ego, which is healthy anyway.
Now you know my problem with pride. I have been willing to bare my soul with ummm a few hundred people. I hope you all are giggling like I am over this sad tale.
Included here are pictures of Crocs and Earth Shoes, everyone knows what Birks look like so no need to share pictures there. One time back before everyone had birks, my oldest sister was embarrassed when I wore mine shopping to the mall with her. I wanted to look at another style in this other store and she waited outside. Didn't want to be seen looking at such "weird" shoes. Life is full of opportunities to look back in life and have a good old laugh.
here is the link for Earth Shoes http://www.earth.us/
(they have vegan styles too)

here is the link for Crocs http://shop.crocs.com/c-4-Footwear.aspx?reqid=4&reqProdTypeId=4&subsectionname=footwear