Barefoot life

[Marc-Antoine]

As for a spiky demon, we have this one as a fruit of an aquatic plant. It was used for food.

Mâcre nageante — Wikipédia

fr.wikipedia.org

Four spikes on a good one inch wide body.
It seems that you got it too in USA, from trial crops escaping their "fields" in the late 1800's.

 

[lxskllr]

Apparently it's spread over here. I'll keep my eyes open for it. I'm always up for free food.

 

[stig]

Seems like you'd have to cook that thing for a looooooooooooooooooooooong time, to make it edible.

 

[cory]

Those wool slippers are bangin

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Was there..shrinkage?View attachment 107731

Turtle would be a generous description. Probably eunuch would be more accurate.

 

[Bermy]

As long as ever I am in Oz, I will never be calling flip flops 'thongs'. 😳
However if you look down at where the strap disappears between your toes, I guess I can see why they call them thongs hey.

 

[Nutball]

Thong basically means a thin strip of leather. Perhaps the name came from the sound you could imagine it making if plucked under tension.

 

[SeanKroll]

The strip between the toes.

 

[cory]

Update on my toes with apparently minor frostbite: they turned black and partial amputation is on the horizon.

Well, not really. They were fully recovered after a couple days. I layed off the barefeet in snow for several days (which gave me a feeling of being cheated outta some fun, ha along with a feeling of I'm real glad I dodged problems with the toes) and today I moved a bunch of firewood in the snow wearing sandals, better than nothing.

I think a lot of you folks might enjoy this vid

 

[lxskllr]

Are you sure it was frostbite, and not just... something? Not sure what it would be, but kind of like an irritation blister. The couple times I've had frostbite(nip?), the skin eventually died, and peeled off, kind of like a callous. Left tender skin underneath.

 

[Tree09]

 

[cory]

Are you sure it was frostbite, and not just... something? Not sure what it would be, but kind of like an irritation blister. The couple times I've had frostbite(nip?), the skin eventually died, and peeled off, kind of like a callous. Left tender skin underneath.

It could definitely have been something else. As i mentioned before, I first thought it was just a small 'blood blister' and ignored it. But then after more snow footing, 1 spot on one toe became 3 or 4 small spots on 2 toes and one toe was reasonably swollen. So I backed off.

 

[cory]

The spots were dark blue and looked subcutaneous and like they'd been made by a blue sharpie marker. The blood blister one was larger and yeah looked like a blood blister. FWIW

 

[lxskllr]

Prudent in any case. No point in damaging yourself for some kicks. I'll be interested in hearing if a layer of skin dies off. Can't remember how long it takes. It was a different time when I got frostbite. You'd have to actively try to get it around here anymore.

edit:
To the best of my recollection, my skin turned white almost immediately, then turned kinda yellow over time, and peeled off in a pretty thick layer.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

Don't take it lightly, the frostbite is a real burn. The depth and the area affected are the important points, as when it's made with heat or chemicals.
The swollen toe looks more of a concern to me than the blooded blisters/spots ( deep vs surface), even if it stayed at a warning level.

 

[Nutball]

I got wood from the pile in the snow in flip flops, and it was painful in less than 5min, and concerning in around 10min, so I came in and put boots on. I didn't expect to wrestle with a layer of ice on the tarp over the pile.

 

[cory]

Were you in powda or packed snow?

Speaking of sandals, I did a good hike today in them, twas good seeing as how I'm not rushing out to court more potential frostbite, though it was a lot of fun while it lasted

 

[Nutball]

Wet ice pellets and snow.

 

[cory]

Was just curious.

Idk, most people make the sensible, obvious choices about footwear and some others, well, some others, they...they, oh who knows about them

 

[cory]

I think barefootability in snow may all revolve around blood flow and core temp.

I say that because of today. I woke up this AM and first thing, saw that the bird feeders needed refilling so I walked out bf to get them and bring them inside to refill. The freezing factor on the feet was extreme, I was like wtf?? They were so cold that I put on flip flops for the return trip to rehang the feeders, and that lessened the discomfort a bit but it was still pretty nasty. I was quite surprised. I knew there was no way likely I could damage the feet in a mere 60 second outing but my point is, I was thinking that way because that is how utterly cold and uncomfortable they were.

So, after that I went inside and did a 1.5 hr Physical therapy routine for my back which is not intense but it does warm you up. Then I did a few other odds and ends and then decided to snow shovel the back deck. Shoveling the deck is how this bf-in-the-snow-thing started a couple weeks ago. Sure enough, the feet were completely comfortable. By that I mean, yes I could tell they were on a cold surface but there was no sense of urgency or fear of extreme coldness. So then I shoveled the whole driveway and the walkway (rather than snowblowing) and it was all totally comfortable and fun. 100% different than this AM when I walked the 60 seconds to the bird feeder.

Only difference I can think of is that my core was likely warmer and I was doing exercise while bare footing in the snow which kept me and the feet warm and comfortable.

Fascinating

 

[lxskllr]

Makes sense. When I got good and pissed off Wednesday, my hands warmed right up, and I previously couldn't feel them. Even taking off the gloves and gripping my aluminum popsicle wasn't so bad.