This Little Piggy

Went to the market,
And this little piggy stayed at home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
And this little piggy had none,
And this little piggy went,
Wee, wee, wee,
All the way home.

My writng seems to be in a bacon phase, maybe I'm missing meat?!

Last Summer Andrew and I did The Sovereigns Cup in Kinsale. We were rafted up alongside an American live aboard guy called Kevin. Of course I had to make friends with him so we could have a nose around his boat, enjoy his sailing stories and drink his beer.

Then another live aboard arrived with another American, and he too was called Kevin. I called him Kevin 2.This chap has been sailing around the world on his own for 5 years now on an old Colin Archer design boat with no engine. Nice fella, great stories and he drank our beer.

Classic Irish Mammy I came away thinking , "There's something not quite right about that fella''. Some days later the penny dropped. It was his feet! His feet were triangular shaped and all his toes were the same width and length. Like a Trolls foot. He sailed barefoot.

Us healthcare professionals like to classify things and give them fancy names that no one can spell so we can charge more😊 ! Pes planus- flat feet, pes cavus- high arched feet. I've discovered a new classification, Pes Trollus- boat foot.

I've been at sea or in ports with boat folks for a month now and the only bunion I've seen , is my own. No one wears shoes and you get the occasional flip flop sighting. At first glance you'd be forgiven for thinking they all have chubby flat feet with weird straight fat toes. But, you'd be wrong. They USE their feet. The toes do what nature intended them for, balance and grip, and the foot moulds and adapts to the surface its on for power and agility. Their feet are like the most amazing suckers on deck. You never see them wobble and they move as agile as cats around the boats. No bunions, no hammer toes, no claw toes, no corns. Strong, healthy, happy feet. Unlike ours......

I saw more sore feet over Covid since I graduated in 1991.( I know, I know I look a lot younger)😊! Why so many pain full feet? Because everyone took their shoe clad, cement reared feet out pounding the streets during lock downs, in search of the pot of gold at the end of the 10,000 step goal that some fit bit fella flogged us.

We're obsessed with support in our shoes and we love our socks., but folks, not good for our feet all the time. So what to do? I'd recommend taking our shoes n socks off when you come in the front door. Sock compress the toes almost as much as shoes. Don't get me started on tights. If you have princess and the pea feet that don't like bare feet or you've cold feet get fur lined crocs as slippers. There's lots of room in them for your toes to roam free! Easier in the Summer to get your feet in the fresh air too. I live in my Birkenstocks May to October most years. So folks stop wrapping your feet up in cotton, wool and leather and set them free!

MARY