Feet of Leather

It's been a while since I've posted on here.  I spent last week in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains of western Maryland at my home.  There is absolutely nothing like falling asleep in your childhood bed.

I am a firm believer that nothing cleanses the soul like a walk through the pasture.  Whether it be to check cows, move cows, or just for a leisurely stroll.

Me, being the no-shoe-wearer that I am, took a walk nearly every day with my mom and dogs... in my flip flops.  Now, there is one thing that I think is common to every farm girl as she grows up - she has feet tough as nails.  Heck, I used to be able to run and play on gravel and in the middle of a hay field mowed 2 weeks ago in my bare feet!  But somewhere down the line, I got a job, moved away, and shoes are now included in my everyday lifestyle.

Long story short, I don't have feet of leather anymore.

As we were walking down a steep hill, my ankle twisted, and POP! My flipflop broke! And we were at least a half a mile from the house in the middle of a pasture of mature, lignified, cool season grasses - just to give you some idea of how uncomfortable my next hour was about to be.

I quickly learned that sometimes moving off the farm does more to us than causes us to be homesick - it makes our feet sore!

About halfway back to the house and lagging way behind my walking partners, my mom graciously offered me her shoes and walked the entire way back to our home barefoot just as well as she was walking in her shoes.

Lesson learned.