What would we do without shoes? That thought came to me as I was tying my shoes in the morning darkness, a feat I have learned to do by wearing out untold thousands of shoes and boots — and socks — in 75 years. An early riser, I dress in the dark to save electricity, and one morning I got the flexible Nikes on the wrong feet. The right feet make a difference, as you can tell when your toe starts hurting.
Down on the riverside paved parkway path, you can take a rest on a bench and watch the parade of shoes passing by along with the different styles of walking. It seems no shoe pairs are the same, and indeed it is perplexing to choose footwear. But lately I have found Nike Air has given me new spring in extending the millions of miles I have walked.
There are plenty of styles to choose from; just take a look in a store or catalog.
It has been a long trail since caveman (and farm boy) barefoot days, but a foot-covering in winter or when going over rocky ridges or walking on ice is almost a necessity for mankind. Consider the feat of wild animals moving on shoeless feet. Even Indians had their skin moccasins although they surely weren’t “thinsulate gore-tex insulated.” Many California Indians, including “Ishi,” went barefoot as do some African tribes. Shoes are one of the features though, that sets most modern people apart from the animal kingdom.
It has become a woods-lore skill to recognize an animal by its shoeless footprint. Most animal feet are specialized. Lynx have padded furry feet for the snow country, as do snowshoe hare. Deer, goats, sheep and other hoofed animals have horny (chitinous) feet for clambering over rough terrain. Squirrels and raccoons have agile nailed toes to deftly maneuver and scurry up trees. Some rodents, gophers, moles, groundhogs and badgers are great den diggers, using strong clawed feet to move soil.
Consider the gecko that can walk on windows. To every animal species, there is a unique foot design to accommodate its mode of living.
I remember the three-pointed track of a rabbit in the snow, and the even row of pad prints of the fox in rural Missouri hunting days. A wonder of snow is the myriad of tracks left behind. Mud has the same effect, and petrified dinosaur tracks prove it.
Was man meant to plop around on two bare feet? We certainly weren’t born with shoes, and I’ve seen a football player kick the ball barefooted. Olympic swimmers do very well in the water without shoes.
But on the other hand, some cowboys love their boots so much they want to die with them on. You can make mental “footprints on the sands of time,” too.
Imagine supplying a thousand-legged millipede with shoes. Insect feet are wondrous to behold, allowing various species rapid running, climbing and digging, and don’t get tangled with a clinging arachnid tick. Some animals move without feet, if you include snakes, whales and fish. The list goes on.
Birds may have the edge with grasping feet used to perch in a tree or impale prey with clutching talons. Waterfowl have webbed feet that can endure cold water and paddle against the current. To every bird, there is a specialized foot as well as an efficient food-gathering beak.
Man is a wingless animal with two feet and flat nails.
Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there.
Did you know that right and left shoes were thought up only a little more than a century ago?
— Bernice Fitz-Gibbon
Rex Burress is a retired naturalist, photographer and artist who lives in Oroville.