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
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