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May 27, 2008
That Which Is Evidence of Summer's First Real Foray into This Interminable Cold Late Spring, Being My Toenails
I have an absolute horror of cold feet, perhaps, because as my acupuncturist constantly reminds me, I am particularly prone to them. "Your feet are so cold!" she'll say, feeling my toes before sticking a few needles in them. "You must remember to keep them warm."
It's counsel I don't need. When I was young I always wore socks or footsies in all but the warmest months (which admittedly constitutes about half the year in Arizona). Living in Taiwan gave me an aversion to walking around the house without some sort of substantial slipper or flip-flop on--the second you walk into someone's house, including your own, you're expected to remove your street shoes and don "two syes," or "escape shoes"--so it's rare that I go unshod, even inside. If it's under about 85F, I have slippers on; if it's under 75F, I have on slippers and a pair of socks; if it's under 50F, I have on slippers and TWO pair of socks.
This makes it hard to paint my toenails, though I really enjoy a nice pedicure. Because not only do I have to take my socks off to paint my toenails, I have to leave the socks off long enough for the polish to dry. And if you apply multiple coats--and I often do, because that one-coat stuff doesn't usually work--that can take a long time.
At one point this past winter I tried cutting the toes off a pair of socks that already had holes in them, so that only my toes were exposed for painting; everything else could stay warm. It worked OK-ish, in that my ankles felt fine, but my toes got VERY cold.
So it's a big deal when it's finally warm enough for long enough that I can paint my toes in relative comfort. And that happened over this weekend, though after two nice days, it got crappy again. It was a pleasure to wake up this chilly, dark damp morning and see the shock of bright color on my very neat, nice toes, particularly since I have lovely (albeit large) feet, even if I do say so myself. It's one reason I like pretty shoes so much: they flatter one of the nicest parts of my body.
I would include a photo of what my toes look like, but I've already done it here.
Posted by holly at May 27, 2008 2:28 PM
Cold feet, warm heart? Oops, sorry, wrong appendages..... ;-)
Hey, you DO have really nice feet! I, too, love painting my toenails, but I always feel it's such a waste unless they're going to be seen, so I never do it in winter. Unlike you, however, I get hot as soon as it hits 70, so I wear flip-flops for a lot of the year. Right now my toenails are a lovely bluish-green. And it's like 80 degrees and raining and GROSSLY muggy. Yuck. Painting my toenails is one of the things I really love about being a girl.
I took a gander over at your other blog.....I envy you, as when I read it, it seems like two entirely different people, (at least to me) different writing styles. I don't have the ability to do that, but maybe one day I will.......
Toenails happening over here, too.
When I paint my nails (toe or finger) the involved appendages always feel cold for a while afterward. I think it's because some of the ingredients are evaporating away and taking some body heat with it, in a small way. That might be what's making your tootsies feel cold.
Hi Everyone--
Juti and Rebecca, glad to know that I'm not the only one who considers pretty toenails a seasonal delight. Juti, I never thought of evaporation being a contributing factor to cold toes, but you might be right. Rebecca, I go back and forth on the "is this worth it if no one sees it but me?" question: sometimes I think it's too much trouble, and other times I think I get enough pleasure from pretty toes to make it worth it even if I'm the only one who sees my feet.
Mr. Nighttime--I think "cold feet, warm heart" sounds perfectly fine. And I tried to hard to make my second blog very different from my first blog--otherwise, what's the point? But as you can also see, I've neglected it sadly. I have a hard enough time finding time for this blog these days, much less a second one.
It seems I am not the only one who thinks you have lovely feet. That and great taste in shoes and clothes. Generally you rock. Hope things are well!
Hi--thanks for stopping by! I hope life is treating you well.