My oldest child refuses to believe that “to snowshoe” is a verb. I’ll have to wait another 90 days or so to see if I have the opportunity to use that particular verb, but for today, with a tip of the hat to Robert Parker, I’m going to take a moment to sing the praises of barefooting the earth.

Every morning I’m up first, making breakfast and packing lunches. This morning was no exception, but with one minor hiccup: we had used my daughter’s hard case lunch box on yesterday’s hike to keep our sandwiches from getting crushed in a backpack–and now her lunchbox was still sitting out in the back of the van.

So outside I went, still in my sleeping clothes, and without any shoes on my feet.

It got down to the 40s overnight, and at 6:30am, it had not yet climbed above 50. The ground was cold under my feet–and wet from all the moisture in the air (have I mentioned that technically, we are living in a temperate rain forest?)

I love going barefoot, and even when the ground is cold and damp, I love to feel the earth underneath my feet. My sister once described walking barefoot on the ground as “plugging into the earth.” I’ve always liked that image.

So for a brief few moments today, I walked barefoot across the earth on a chilly fall morning–

And for the rest of the day, I’ve thought about the touch of the earth under my feet, and felt just a little more grounded.

Have I really made it to Day 265? Just a 100 day countdown to a full year? I find it hard to believe!