Dad Feet

I look at feet when people wear sandals. Some are pink and smooth and moisturized, some are white and crusty with dead skin, cracked skin and callouses. My feet always looked fine so I never touched them, but then somebody gave me some foot exfoliation lotion and I loved it. My feet felt better, and I didn't even know they hurt.

I had callouses around some of my toenails that kind of hurt. I went to my dad's house to ask him to take them off with a razor blade. This makes doctors cringe but it works so well if you're careful. My dad took them off like a pro, complete with extra task lighting and magnifying glasses. Then he showed me his "ugly toenail." It was just slightly dented in an accident a long time ago. But OMG. His feet are beautiful. Pink and smooth and moisturized. He scrubs them with a soapy wash cloth everyday. It was a surprising point of refinement in a man so little concerned with appearances. And a seeming impossibility for someone with such feet endangering pasttimes - gardening barefoot, running, hiking & logging trees, and losing control of heavy sharp objects wielded during home improvement projects.