So much happens in a month. Regular readers are familiar by now with our column rotation, with a submission each week for the ‘Perspective’ page, myself the first week of the month, Dawn M. Henley the second week, Craig Macho the third week and Kim Van Meter the fourth week. If there happens to a fifth Wednesday, we let John Branch sneak in a column on this page as well.Typically there’s a specific topic or event I comment on but this past month has been so busy that there are several issues to address.A big one is my daughter entering high school; she is now officially a freshman, the lowest rung on the ladder, the bottom of the totem pole, the dreaded — and apparently, often booed at school rallies — freshman. She is slowly adjusting to her new class schedule, having to get up earlier than last year because high school starts a little sooner in the day than junior high, and so far finding French one of her favorite classes. There is daily drama, however, as I struggle to keep up with who she is friends with today, who is upset at who over something that will someday seem inconsequential, and battling about ‘no texting’ while doing homework. My husband and I were remembering back to our own school days, when (at least in our families) each child had phone privileges — the old-fashioned on the wall kind of phone, not a cell — for a certain amount of time each night. Whether you called one friend or five, when your allotted time period was up, the phone was turned over to a sibling and that was it for the night. No texting, no late night calls via cell; if you forgot to tell your friend something it had to wait until the next day at school. Times and modes of communication have certainly changed.Also looming large is a family move, leaving the home we have been in for 10-plus years. To say that has been a huge undertaking would actually be an understatement.We have ‘stuff’ that we put in the garage when we moved into that house, intending to go through it and bring it into the house little by little. That ‘stuff’ is still in the garage, 10 years later, and it has somehow reproduced, expanding to the point that it’s overwhelming to open the garage door and look. We never did use the garage for our cars; there wasn’t any room. So now we are having to go through it and decide what — if anything — we actually need or want to keep from there and get rid of the rest. Aside from a few memorabilia items, the majority of it is very expendable.Some stuff remains at the old house, some at the new, and life feels a bit disjointed as I am currently trying to remember what is where, what was boxed, what was bagged, what was trashed and what was recycled. Another month or so and I hope to be fully finished with the process, with room in the new garage for something other than a lifetime of accumulated nonsense.Given my track record, we will hope for the best and shoot for not having the garage look like something from an episode of the TV show ‘Hoarders.’Third, and finally, there’s something to be said for sticking with your routine. I made the mistake of picking out a new pair of sneakers that were not my usual color. The style was fine, sensible for chasing after fires and wandering up and down the football field sidelines, but the color was white. With lavender — okay, bordering on pink — accents.Everyone knows if it’s on my feet, it’s usually black or brown, maybe blue if I stretch. But white? And lavender? First I had to deal with the ‘are you kidding?’ look from my 14-year-old freshman. Then, one of the guys at work acted as if I blinded him with the light reflecting off my shoes the first (and so far only) day I wore them to work. Give me a little credit, people, I thought, I’m trying to step out of my comfort zone.As it turns out, it was a misstep. Because I tend to just grind through things, it took quite a while for me to finally loosen up the shoelaces on my left sneaker when it started bothering me on Friday. I figured it was just the pain you sometimes get from breaking in a new pair, maybe it didn’t fit as well as the right one. So after limping for a while, I loosened the laces, and after that didn’t really help alleviate the pain, I took the shoes off. It still hurt so before I put on my old pair, I checked out my foot.My red, puffy, painful, hot-to-the-touch foot.Guess white shoes attract creepy crawly things that bite or sting an unsuspecting wearer. That’s my assumption; I don’t think the shoe fitting a little too snuggly would produce that type of reaction. So here’s the dilemma — do I dare try wearing them again? After the swelling goes down and the shoe (ha ha) fits? It has been thoroughly checked and no creepies came crawling out, but I am still leery. Still not sure of my next move. Will report back next month.Or just check out my feet when you see me to find out what color of shoe I’m wearing. Marg Jackson is editor of The Escalon Times and The Oakdale Leader and assistant editor for The Riverbank News. She may be reached at mjackson@escalontimes.com or by calling 847-3021.
Marg-Ins - Of Moves And Shoes
