I have always admired ladies with tan feet. Partly because I think tan feet just look WAY nicer than white feet, but also because of the life that tan feet represent. Tan feet say to me that the owner actually sat still long enough for the sun to bake their skin for at least 10 minutes...at least. (Note the mother talking on her cell phone in the background of photo one!) They also say that the owner actually lives a life wherein it is safe to wear flip flops (or summer shoe of choice). I, on the other hand, have had white feet for the past 8 years. During that time it has been neither practical nor safe for me to wear flip flops. Oh, I've owned them, but they last a long time due to lack of wear.
I wear Nike running shoes simply because I run. Not for health reasons, but I chase my little boys everywhere. And if I'm not chasing them, it's because I just got done chasing them, or because I'm about to chase them. I wear Nike's everywhere...even church. (I love living in a rural community!)
My aunt once gave me oodles of expensive shoes (heels) she had outgrown. Beautiful, truly beautiful, but totally impractical for the mother of 3 young boys. These shoes look great on, and I wore them twice...once in the kitchen, and once in the living room, and nearly killed myself trying to walk back to the closet to put them away (which the boys thought was absolutely hilarious). When my aunt asked when I was going to wear them somewhere, I responded, "When I know I won't have to go from 0 to 60 in 5.2!" I still have them, and one day I'll wear them out...just not in the foreseeable future.
Anyway, back to the tan feet...they just represent a lady who's able to sit and watch her kids...something I think will happen to me someday. And now, for the heart of the blog...
Tuesday I took my boys to the Jordon Valley Park water feature in downtown Springfield. Kinda silly to go from the country (more or less) to the city to play in the "crick", but we did, and they had an absolutely wonderful time. There is a little creek (completely chlorinated and filtered) that flows from the top of the park down to the main water feature, which consists of a round concrete pad from which bursts forth streams of water at unpredictable intervals (that sounds fancy for a water hole, doesn't it!).
Anyway, Isaac took a boat to float, and the big boys wore their swimming suits, and they all played for 2 hours. I took a large beach towel, which I spread on one of the many concrete outcroppings scattered around the park. I wiped eyes, dried runny noses, applied sunscreen, and occasionally loosened a boat from it's snag in the white water rapids. I even met a mom I had known years ago from Ridgecrest Baptist's MOPS group (she loaned me the sunscreen...mine was in the van! You can see her in the top of one of the pictures...she's in the pink shirt, applying sunscreen to her own children!)
And for the first time in eight years, I got...
a flip flop tan!
3 comments:
How very lovely, indeed!
Ahhh, A Flip Flop Tan.... I never thought about what it represents, but so glad to be enlightened. I think I will try to seek one of those over the next week myself! Isn't it great to know that you are at a point where you can get a flip flop tan! Thanks for sharing. By the way - you are a great photographer!
So you're saying it'll probably be at least 8 years before I see a flip flop tan too, huh? Oh well...it's totally worth it, isn't it? I loved your story and wish I could have been there with you. How 'bout next time?
xoxo Anita
Post a Comment