behold the pod people; also, funny shoes

By pod-people, I am referring, of course, to the denizens of the watermelon and cantaloupe patch.

Today’s sacrificial victims.

Mmmm…delicious.

 

On my way out the door today, I spotted movement in the driveway. Both cats were indoors, otherwise, I’m sure this little white-footed mouse (?) – would have been at the least, a fascinating source of amusement to them, and at worst, a snack. It concerns me a bit that it was out in the day time, as according to the rules and regulations outlined on the internet, it’s supposed to be nocturnal. At any rate, the real point of the picture is, I was able to zoom in on this guy with the shiny new camera.

Enough of its cute little white feet.

Let’s look at my feet.

Today, I invested in this year’s new pair of shoes. (Well, I’m not counting the running shoes I finally allowed myself to start using back in May.)

Yep, Vibram FiveFingers. Mine, mine, mine.

I first saw these on the feet of a guy who works at the food coop. I was doing my member hours bagging groceries, and he walked by and I noticed his shoes and immediately practically jumped all over him. He told me who makes ‘em.  I looked them up online, where I read the following enchanting propaganda:

When you go barefoot, your movements become the movements of a child—playful and sensitive, yet purposeful and confident. You experience the unbound joy of stepping, hopping, and running across any surface on earth, simply to get from here to there.

Vibram FiveFingers® allow you to relive that sensation. Unlike conventional shoes that insulate you from your surroundings, FiveFingers footwear deepens your connection to the earth and your surroundings. FiveFingers enhance your sense of touch and feel, while improving foot strength, balance, agility, and range of motion. Because wearing Vibram FiveFingers is so close to going barefoot, you’ll enjoy the health and performance benefits of barefooting without some of the risks.

And then, Lynn and I spotted a couple of people at the San Diego half-marathon wearing them. This woman here…

…is sporting the newest “Bikila” model, designed specifically for running. Incidentally, she finished less than two minutes after we did. (That loopy thing on her left foot is the timer chip.)

These shoes set up the same alternating current in my brain that certain breeds of dogs do:

 

cute!!! – UGLY! 
*squeal!* cute!!! Fugly! … aww, cute…  uggghhhlllly are-you-kidding-me – cutecutecute – OMG UGLY! - CUTE!

 

Anyway, the basic philosophy is what finally sold me on the concept. We evolved barefoot. Those crazy Kenyans run barefoot. Why not try the FiveFingers? I’m not sure I’m going to attempt running in them just yet, but I sure want to go for my several-times-weekly long walks on largely dirt roads wearing them. So I got the all-purpose “KSO” model – that stands for “keep stuff out”, to distinguish them from a more open-topped concept that kind of look like ballet slippers.

I tried on two colors – your basic black, and gray-and-purple. I then, naturally, polled everybody in the running store. The 12 year old girls were rooting for purple, but everybody else voted for black. I agreed with the woman behind the counter, who pointed out that the gray is going to go dingy, and it will look like crap. Black it is.