Breaking in New Sandals

 

This is an annual ordeal.  Every single year, I have to buy and break in a new pair of shoes – actually, sport sandals – since I wear them out and wear them down in this heat.  My feet are extremely sensitive to abrasion, and always have been.  And I do not wear socks in this climate, so my feet get ripped up when breaking in a new pair.  I always carry a roll of athletic tape in my backpack to patch up wounds on my feet while on the march. 

I always go with sandals from The North Face, a great company, and until this year they had one model that I bought for three straight years, which broke in more easily since the contact points with my feet were identical.  Well, they discontinued this model, and I had to pick a new one.  It is wonderfully cushioned and soft on the footbed, but the ankle and toe straps are different, thus harsh. 

For many years, I had made the mistake of trying to break in new sandals in the Hot Season – not good.  Then I wised up and started breaking them in during the Cool Season.  But, in recent years, our Cool Season has experienced the bane of toxic PM2.5 air pollution, which makes marching hazardous and less regular. 

My sandals wear down from hard use, but also from my sweat in this humidity.  By the time one year of use comes round at the Hot Season, they smell.  And when the Rainy Season hits us in around June, and I stomp through tropical puddles, their wet smell is intolerable and cannot be disguised.  So, I have to semi-retire them annually. 

Slowly, painfully, I’m breaking in the new pair for short jaunts, while still wearing the old for long hard marches.  This is a cycle I’ve come to live with.  But I always carry a roll of tape. 

-Zenwind. 

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Seasons

The Cool Season is over, and heat and humidity are again our normal condition every day and night.  Sweat city.  The toxic PM2.5 air pollution is still a problem, yet we are occasionally getting windy weather that thins it out a bit.  We still wear face masks for pandemic hygiene, but I am more concerned about the dirty PM2.5 air so I always wear a tight-fitting N95 mask when out and about. 

We are definitely into the beginnings of our Hot Season (until the Rainy Season gives us brief moments of respite starting, maybe, in June or July).  After all these years living here (and a year in Vietnam half a century ago), I still cannot comprehend how hot the tropics are.  It is a shock to this body, whose ancestral origins came from northern Europe. 

Today we had some rumblings of thunder and dark clouds – a bit unusual for March – so I took an umbrella with me on my neighborhood errands (e.g., to the pet store, etc.).  As I stepped outside, I had a classic memory of my father:  there was a unique coolness and scent upon the breeze, reminding me of my youth when he used to say, “It feels like it has rained somewhere!”  Indeed, it had rained somewhere, but we didn’t get any of it except for just the hint in the brief cool breeze. 

By the time I was lugging pet supplies and groceries back home, the sun was out again and “coolness” was a concept deleted from consciousness.  I arrived back home completely soaked, head to toe, in sweat. 

The pubs have just been reopened again, so I may venture into the city soon to visit my friends at The Rock Pub.  Movie selections are still thin, but I have some explorations in mind in the city, as there are food markets I want to check out for specific healthy selections.  Public transit is better than ever now, so it is much more comfortable to travel than it was five years ago. 

My physical strength has declined – and this really alarms me since I’ve always strived to be fit – and I blame most of this on my enforced physical inactivity in the last few years due to the PM2.5 pollution.  And, of course, part of it may be that I am getting older! 

(How did that ancient Indian sage explain it?  “Dukkha”, i.e., the impermanence of life and the entire suite of disappointments connected with comprehending that reality.  Accepting that reality was the first task; letting go of negative reactions to these facts of life was the important second task; then there is the experiencing of this blissful release; and finally, cultivating the optimal ethical path going forward.) 

I think it was the Rolling Stones who sang, “What a drag it is getting old.”  But – besides the physical limitations – I still feel incredibly young at heart. 

-Zenwind. 

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