spc: these feet were made fer walkin'

this month's self-portrait challenge is about enclosed spaces.
(marigoldie, click here.)

aging is like being in a small space.

i keep saying "i am forty"
to make it real.
cuz i feel like i am
way behind in maturity
in comparison to where
i am "supposed to be".

so...i sat, looking at my dirty, dusty feet
while at the philly folk festival.
and thought of all the places
they have taken me over the years.
taking my first steps.
pedaling my first two-wheeler.
walking to my first day of kindergarten
and home with my brother.
countless teen dances where i
kissed a boy for the first time.
wearing character shoes for all
of the plays and shows i performed in.
years of working in retail, standing for hours.
bar-hopping in my twenties.
sailing for the first time
(and almost barfing) to catalina
with my big brother.
waiting tables to get through school.
walking everywhere for the five years that i didn't own a car.
running. running. running.
jumping rope with the shorties.
walking down the aisle at my wedding to
marry the most wonderful-man-in-the-world.
standing all day in a classroom.
camping and hiking
and biking and photographing
and marching and skipping
and twirling
and
and
and...

these feet are going to take me through the next half of my life.
and that half is going to rock even more than the first.