Pink Toenails, my feet and toes after I painted my toenails a frosty pink, Denver, March 2009, photo © 2009 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
Toes and feet are odd things. Some people adorn them; others adore them.
Sometimes we joke about them. Did you hear about the guy who was born with two left feet? He went out the other day to buy himself some flip flips.
We rhapsodize about them. The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art. (Leonardo da Vinci)
We wiggle them and dance with them. Sometimes we’d rather not think about them. They literally carry all our weight.
My dad has narrow feet and Mom’s are fat with short round toes. We women in the family paint our toenails and sometimes treat ourselves to pedicures. (I like doing my own. One month I’ll go midnight blue, another month frosty rose. Toenails are the body’s canvas, a place to capture a mood, be rebellious. My version of a tattoo.)
I get cold feet in winter and go barefoot around the house all year long. The heels of my feet are in need of help, which I’ll tend to once sandal-wearing season is fully upon us.
What about you? Do you take care of your feet or do you neglect them? Have you ever been caught flat-footed?
Do you tap your feet?
Have you ever fallen down and got back on your feet again?
Do you toe the line or go toe-to-toe? And if given a choice, what color would you paint your toenails?
These and many more questions are yours to answer if you step up to the plate and do a Writing Practice on the topic of Feet & Toes. Write these words at the top of your page: Everything I know about feet and toes… and start writing. Fifteen minutes, no crossing out, no stopping to think. Just write.
Put your best foot forward. We won’t hold your feet to the fire, and we won’t hang you by the toenails if you don’t do it. But go ahead and get your feet wet. Take a walk on the wild side. One foot in front of the other. A step in the right direction. Foot loose and fancy free.
Shake a leg. Break a leg.
Now step on it. Go.
Something’s afoot…
- The foot is split into three main areas: the forefoot, the mid foot and the hind foot.
- The foot contains over 100 muscles, ligaments, and tendons, 26 bones (14 in the toes alone!) and around 33 joints.
- A pair of feet contains about a quarter of a million sweat glands, which explains foot odor.
- On average, humans will take enough steps in their lifetime to walk around the globe four times. Each day the average person will take 10,000 steps.
- When we run, the pressure exerted on our feet can exceed four times our body weight.
- Feet change in shape and size during our lifetimes. Feet can grow up to one size as people age and the structures within the foot relax and spread.
- Purchase new shoes in the afternoon, when feet are at their biggest.
- The largest feet in the world belong to a Mr. Matthew McGrory, whose feet are size 28½ (US). The 7ft-4in Florida resident has to fork out $22,745 for a pair of shoes to fit his feet.
- The Achilles tendon, located in the heel of the foot, was named after one of the most famous mythical characters from Ovid’s Illiad. In an attempt to immortalize her son, Thetis (Achilles’ Mother) dipped Achilles into the River Styx, holding him by his ankle. His ankle became the only part of his body capable of sustaining a mortal wound. This is why the strongest tendon in the foot got the name of Achilles tendon.
- In China during the early tenth century, foot binding was seen as a sign of beauty and was practiced by all social classes. At about age five and onward, girls’ toes were tightly wrapped in cloth, breaking the bones and curling the foot under. After a number of years, the front and back of the foot would be forced together to give the impression of small dainty feet. Prospective mothers-in-law would inspect the feet to see whether a girl was suitable to marry her son.
Feet on red Ravine
redravine.wordpress.com 
yb, first of all, you have very pretty feet & the pearly pink looks great.
My toes need to be painted soon. I usually only paint them when the weather is suitable for sandals. I usually go with a deep maroon polish. I also like a bright orange or violet color, but do my fingernails to match. Funny, but last night I had a dream that involved going for a manicure. I’ve always done my own & have never had a mani or a pedi. I remember from the dream that the cost was $3.99 per nail. I honestly have no idea what they really cost at a salon.
I think the dream was a reminder to do my nails soon.
Great info on feet. It’s amazing that a man wears a size 28 1/2, but I guess at his height his feet have to be that large. Makes me wonder if the other thing they say about a man’s foot size is true. 🙂
The best joke I ever heard about falling was on a t-shirt worn by R3 years ago. It had a cartoon of a man who had fallen off his horse & read “Help me! I’ve fallen & I can’t giddy up”.
Thanks for the smile today. D
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My sister is coming to town next week, and one of the events we’re planning on is dueling pedicures at Daisy Nails. You’ve given me an idea for exactly the color I want to walk out of the shop with.
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Great Writing Topic, a fun one. I want to read the post, check out the great links, and respond more later. But I have a question, something I’m curious about — why do so many women love pedicures so much?
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diddy, your comment cracked me up. 8)
Having never had a pedicure myself, QM, I can’t say for sure why so many women love them. But I wonder if it has to do with care of the feet. As someone who gets massages, I can tell you that it is my feet and hands that I love having massaged the most. My feet and hands seem inconsequential as compared to my back and neck, for example, yet I know I hold a lot of stress in my feet and hands, and to have them massaged is heavenly. I don’t know if a pedicure includes a foot massage, but if so, that would be a draw for me.
I also like a pretty foot. I have to say, while I don’t have a foot fetish, I think the foot can be beautiful. I like long toes and high arches. And when I painted my toenails midnight blue, I stared at my own feet for hours. (Maybe I do have a foot fetish, although I think it’s just that feet are sexy.) Oh, I also love seeing an adorned foot in a gorgeous sandal. So I guess can see the draw of the pedicure, although it’s not something I’d pay for unless it were the kind of treat that it sounds Teri is going after.
BTW, Teri, what color are you going to do: midnight blue or frosty pink? Or did you get an idea for a different color?
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p.s., When we were in Denver, we got snowed in one day. That’s the day my sister brought out all her nail care tools and polishes. I painted my toenails and then I gave my niece a manicure. We even soaked her fingers in warm soapy water. (Remember Madge? [LINK].)
I even gave her a hand massage first. And I found out that it’s hard to massage a hand! But it was lots of fun.
p.s.s., Oh, and then we watched the Food Network channel, which you can see in the background of the photo. It was pure, guilt-free relaxation. Ahhh….
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Great photo. I love the background TV in the shot.
Lovely toes you got there, m’am.
I do remember Madge. Definitely.
I’ll have to come back later to read the rest.
I took a quick break from packing, gotta go finish.
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When I got married, my wife started giving me pedicures (not as often as I would like). Its a great treat to get your feet pampered.
BTW, I have Fred Flintstone feet. My older sister who lived on Maui for 18 years called them “luau feet”.
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I agree with littlediddy… you have amazingly pretty feet. They’re stunning. I mean you could be a foot model.
The Deistette has pretty feet, too. When we first met we were at church camp and we went to a party where everyone paints each other’s toenails… yes, even the guys… all while doing tequila or chocolate cake shots.
I know, it’s sounds weird but we’re UUs and odd things happen at UU church camp. Needless to say, some toes wind up looking a little odd.
Anyway, she was so impressed with the daisies I painted on each of her toes that she begs me to do them every couple of months.
I of course resist and play hard to get but yield because I sit in the camp of adoring (well I guess adorning, too) her toes. : )
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“Now step on it”…chuckle
Very lovely feet!
I must have a foot fetish because when I see a shoe that covers all the toes completely but is just short of covering the gap between the big toe and the one next to it, I think it looks sexy and exotic. I call it “foot cleavage” 😉
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anuvuestudio, my mother had a great shoe collection from the late 40’s which included the “peek-a-boo” toe, that little hole in the end. They are strangely exotic and erotic. I loved those shoes. I think I have a shoe fetish.
yb, I have some dark purple fingernail polish with glitter in it if you want me to send it to you for the next time you are snowed in.
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I have a pair of “peek-a-boo” shoes that look like they’re from about the 1940s. I got them in San Diego at a store we don’t have in NM, maybe Neiman-Marcus. My sister was with me; she was my date for a big banquet where I and a bunch of others from my company got an award. I wore a vintage dress of my mother-in-laws (she gave it to me), low back with rhinestones down the drapey back collar (don’t know what else to call it). So fun. The shoes killed my feet, but then again, I did dance a few dances.
I still have those shoes. I only wear them with a few vintage dresses I have. They’re pretty high, but I love them. Classic; they will never go out of style.
Foot cleavage…Heather, you are a goof. Glad to see you mucking up.
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Jules, you UUs should advertise toenail painting as a Sunday school pasttime. That ought to bring ’em in. 8)
MM, return the favor. Your wife will love you. (And me.) 8)
Bo, hope to catch you on the fly. I’ve already thought of the place to eat if it works out. Safe travels.
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p.s., Bob, I’m more of a solid or frost girl, not sparkles. I’ve tried the sparkles and haven’t found a one that really works in nail polish. But thanks for the offer. 8)
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p.s. Jules, I just had a thought. If they close down your church, you can always get a job as a pedicurist.
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I was going to say, ‘You have pretty feet, ybonesy!’ but after reading the comments, I realize this may have occurred to a few people already. 🙂
I wanted to do this free-write… but, maybe cus I had background distractions (grawg) or maybe just cus my mind isn’t there, it really didn’t go anywhere or even cover some of the stuff I can think of now. Just sort of a circular ramble. But here it is.
http://bugbear.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/feet-and-toes/
I love the story of Achilles. Can’t believe someone had size 28 1/2 feet?!! At least they also had a pair of kayaks on hand if the world ever flooded.
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[…] is a free-write, inspired by red Ravine where they ask you to just write for fifteen minutes about the topic at hand, never stopping or […]
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Second try.
http://bugbear.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/feet-toes-take-two-or-i-found-monkey-mind/
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I just had a pedicure yesterday. It felt marvelous and now my toenails are a pretty shade of Pompeii Purple.
Your pink toenails are very pretty. 🙂
As I mentioned at Amuirin’s, I’ve already done a few posts about my feet and figure if I do anymore it will begin to look a little obsessive or something. I am, however, enjoying reading what everyone else has to say about their feet.
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I am going to say it anyway: those really are some pretty good looking toes. I became fascinated with their good condition (no nail fungus, no deformities from ill-fitting shoes, etc). And a great shade of pink polish. So springtimey.
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Thanks, Jackie. Yeah, no real foot problems here. I think some of those things might be hereditary (like hammer toes, for example). Thankfully, not any of that in my family.
I highly recommend going without shoes while at home. I never wear shoes in my house. Well, today I wore my boots for the day, and boy did my feet ache.
Also, I only wear punishing shoes for short periods of time–special occasions. I could never wear high heels every day or every weekday. I try to buy good brands—Born, Clark’s, Dansko.
How ’bout you? Do you have foot troubles?
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Robin, you have done quite a few feet posts. Always with painted toenails, I’ve noticed. 8)
amuirin, I’ve been offline all weekend but I will check out your post this week. Looking forward to it.
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I have a foot post somewhere in my archives. I think that Robin and I did a tandem one once. As I recall Stevo was supposed to do something too. hmmmm
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I’m finding that feet and toes are one of those things—people seem to have strong feelings about them. I’m looking forward to doing my Writing Practice post on Feet & Toes, although I’ve already done quite a bit of writing and doodling about feet. Oh, and I have a foot painting in my head floating about and hope to do that soon, too.
Thanks for stopping by. Any stories behind your foot avatar?
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I love B-Mom’s toes, too. If I remember right didn’t I post a picture of my li’l piggies on that post of yours B-Mom?
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Yeah, B-Mom has nice piggies. I noticed them on a comment (the avatar) she left on Robin’s blog, I think.
Hey, I found out this weekend that my sister Bobbi took our dad to get a pedicure. Bobbi and Dad got dual pedicures, and the reason is that Dad can’t clip his toenails any more—lack of flexibility and precision as he’s gotten quite old. So they were laughing because Bobbi suggested Dad get pink nailpolish and the lady doing the pedicure also suggested painting on a flower. Ha!
A pedicure can be such a gift of love.
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BTW, I don’t remember you posting a pic of your piggies, jules. Maybe there should be a pig-pic day where everyone posts a picture of their toes on the same day. Just imagine. Foot fetishists would go ga-ga.
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ha ha… yes, I think feet-types would go ga-ga. What would be a good piggie-pic day?… maybe first day of summer?
And I knew if I looked hard enough I’d find that post at B-mom’s place.
here’s my comment there. You’ll see B-mom’s pretty toes and a pretty cool post there as well. It has a link to my feets.
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Jules, ha! That was so fun, looking at your feet. Well, and I must say, they are unique. Such roundness and large toenails. I bet the people who paint little toenail patterns and decals would love you. A nice-sized canvas, comparatively speaking. And I hope you won’t take this as offensive, but they kind of remind me of Fred Flintstone. 8)
Yes, let’s plan to do feet pics on the first day of summer. I’ll put it in my calendar and hopefully remember to do a post.
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[…] Up The Scalloped Oysters!, Aunt Annie’s Scalloped Oysters, Writers’ Feet, April writing retreat in Kansas City, Missouri, April 2009, photo © 2009 by QuoinMonkey. All […]
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[…] The men muttered words of doom—”Now we’re going to crash on account of your Zen feet, your American tendency towards immodesty and insult…” (no, really, I only imagine that’s what they said)—and in the way I’m quick to correct my offenses, I dropped my feet, slipped them into the pink Italian leather shoes I’d worn on the trip, and sat side-saddle on the ledge of the console, aware that feet, toes, and legs are appendages that I’m used to flopping around, like a purse or a scarf or a stray arm. And to hold them in one spot, ladylike and proper, was almost like having my ankles tied. No feet, no freedom. -related to post WRITING TOPIC — FEET & TOES […]
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[…] -related to Topic post: WRITING TOPIC – FEET & TOES […]
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[…] to posts toenail art haiku, WRITING TOPIC – FEET & TOES and haiku 2 […]
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Gorgeous color! I found it when I was looking for polish ideas (so many colors, so few toes! lol). What color is that frosty pink? It looks vaguely like an OPI color I’ve seen but can’t place. I don’t know if i could pull it off since you have such tan great feet!
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Thanks for stopping by, Sarah. The color belonged to my sister. I painted my toes during a spring break vacation at her place in Denver, so I never did catch the brand. And I might have made up the shade. Sorry. And you’re right, the frosty colors go well on dark skin. Love this: so many colors, so few toes. So true! 8)
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You have the most beautiful feet , i have ever seen in my life
Thanks for the pic
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[…] to posts WRITING TOPIC – FEET & TOES and haiku 2 […]
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