the poor shoeless man

HIYA!

Didn't sleep much last night because of all the racket at the temple where I stayed. Chain-sawing a tree to make doors for the temple. Lots of building at this new temple. Nice monks though.

Left about 6:30 this morning. About 7:00 I saw a guy approaching me on foot. We were walking on the same side of the road. I walk counter to traffic because I feel more comfortable this way. If a vehicle is going to hit me I'd like to know beforehand. Maybe I can dodge my way out of death! As we got closer I saw that he was walking barefoot. And I saw him carrying something. As we got closer I saw that he was carrying his sandals and that one of them was broken.

This poor shoeless young man.

When we reached each other I asked him, "Sandals broke, huh?" He grunted a sort of yes reply. He seemed kind of out of it. Maybe drunk or on drugs, or exhausted or what I don't know. He looked a bit dirty and ragged. I felt a little sorry for him. So I asked him if he would like my sandals and he said he would. I gave them to him and he thanked me. Then we walked away.

So now who's the poor shoeless man?!

I walked barefoot along the side of the road for about 3 hours or more. Towards the end my feet really started to hurt. As the heat of the day intensified my feet hurt more and more. I finally found a store with some decent sandals and bought them. I'd like to start walking barefoot a couple of hours a day starting tomorrow so as to toughen the soles of my feet. They used to be pretty thick but have softened quite a bit now that I wear sandals again all the time.