at night, i lie bundled and shivering under several layers of duvet and blanket, a sheep's fleece, and occasionally a heated corn bag in between my feet. i long for warmth.
lillie, on the other hand, blithely kicks off the covers, feet poking out at all angles. she never wears socks. i wear 2 pairs at a time. she can play in the snow for hours - i get to be outside only minutes before i am so cold that i can't feel my feet (it doesn't help that i can't move much, and she is running!).
in the summer, i am still cold. it does feel nice, however, to wear shorts instead of layers and layers of clothes. my skin feels free! when we swim, i purposely stick to the upper layers of the water, as even letting my legs hang down into the cool deep chills me to the bone.
lillie refuses to wear shoes and socks for much of the time. i put my foot down (haha) when we have to go somewhere. before we go in, we always have to reassemble her footwear and hope that she'll keep the socks and shoes on until we get back into the car. you never know. you just have to hope, and keep an eye out. one time in the grocery store, i found her missing shoe underneath the frozen meat freezers - we hadn't even gone down that aisle! in the summer, even sandals won't cut it for her. she has to be barefoot, especially at my parents' farm. she hasn't gone IN the chicken coop barefoot, but that was a near thing.
when i had casts on my ankle for years, from all those surgeries, i swear the toes sticking out would turn blue from the cold. my gramma knitted me these cute little toe-caps, like 1/4 socks, that just covered my toes and would snag on the cast, so they could stay on easily. i found one the other day, and for half a minute, wished i could put it on my cast, to remember her love and care. then i shivered, and put it on my hand, instead. i could use it for a handwarmer, or i could put them on my now castless toes, and see how long it takes for them to slip off.
copyright 2006, jessica voigts
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 25
lee - yahoo for the visits! can't wait to hear about them. don't tell me you can get cold in TX? i thought it was all hot down there. drat!
lovely piece as always Jessie! Snuggle that Lilie girl while you can!!
If you get too cold, you can come down here to Oklahoma in August!
Anyway, the offer stands.
(pardon the pun)
Also, I am the opposite of Jessie even tho I am her father. I never get cold and hate hot weather. So I have a hard time relating to cold feet except when someone puts them on me. Shock value I guess. Good story and pic of Lill.
This brings to mind a dream I had: hundreds of shoes - high heels, hiking boots, sorrels - were sticking out of the snow in my neighbor's yard, and people were milling around in the snow in their stocking feet hunting for their shoes. They were wearing elegant evening clothes, and obviously, my neighbor had had a party. So, if you want Lillie to wear her shoes outside send her to Alaska for social conditioning!
RKL
clare - hope you can find some warmth. you should have written this one! i'd like to learn more about reynaud's...
KR - yes, she's a huck finn, for sure. give lillie a microphone - no cold feet there, either. you need a shot of lillie in your veins. haha
and gayle - i think she would probably go barefoot in AK, too. sigh. one time we went to the mailbox in the winter - she'd shucked off her boots in the garage, and was playing in the snow before i noticed.
thank you - all! i will have to remind ed of the foot rubs....he claims his hands get cold when he does them!