Sounds kind of crazy, but I'm thinking about feet today. I
thought about feet last night when I was sleeping on the couch with Lizzie, I thought
about feet when I was reading my new elephant book when I couldn't get to sleep, and I
thought about my own feet when I headed off to Podiatry this morning.
This was the last of the tests my primary care physician ordered in
August, all of which have been within normal limits. The podiatry appointment was
canceled by Kaiser twice, so I expected them to be canceling again when they called
yesterday, but it was just a reminder. I got up early this morning to do a foot
soak, just in case the feet weren't as clean as they looked!
I don't know why there was no podiatry clinic closer than Vallejo,
which is an hour's drive from here. I gave "Nigel" (our GPS--he's British) the
information and off I went. The Kaiser garage was so full I thought surely I would
be late for my appointment, but no, I arrived only one minute after the scheduled time.
The provider was an RN named Terry, who didn't know, either, why I
was there, but she checked my feet, clipped my toenails and told me I was welcome to come
back for nail care if I wanted, but it would cost $35 per visit, so I thanked her and made
my way back out to the car again!
The one thing she did do was to explain that the
"ingrown toenail" I thought I had was not, and was a mild nail fungus, about
which I can do nothing really, except get a soft brush and brush the area when I take a
shower. She cleaned out the area, and it doesn't hurt any more. Yippee!
![feet.jpg (30547 bytes)](http://www.funnytheworld.com/2012/Sep/feet.jpg)
As for dog feet, Lizzie comes to mind instantly. Lizzie spends
a lot of time licking her front paws. Wherever she is she is licking those
feet. It always looks like one of the dogs has peed on the couch or on a blanket
because she slops over onto whatever surface she is lying and leaves a small puddle of dog
drool. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her feet, she just
likes to lick them.
![pawprintsBrown.jpg (24008 bytes)](http://www.funnytheworld.com/2012/Sep/pawprintsBrown.jpg)
But what I'm finding today the most interesting feet are elephant
feet. The book I am reading currently is called "The Elephant's Secret Sense,"
by Caitlin O'Connell. O'Connell has spent many years studying elephants,
particularly focusing on their method of communication. She speaks about how
important an elephant's feet are in communicating not only with its own herd, but herds in
the vast area where it lives.
The pad on the bottom of an elephant's foot is able to register
vibrations for many miles, which can tell it where other herds are located and when there
is danger nearby. It also allows these huge animals to move almost soundlessly
through the forest, when necessary.
But over and above the spongy pad of the foot, she observed that when
startled, or wary, elephants walk on tiptoe. (They also stand on tiptoe to reach
vegetation which is too high to reach from the ground.) She speculates that
"perhaps elephants were getting up onto the their toes to direct the vibrations
through special vibration-sensitive cells at the tips of the toes or through their
toenails. Alternatively, the vibrations could pass through their foot pads and and
toe bones, feet, and then up the leg, and into the ear."
![elephantfeet.jpg (80956 bytes)](http://www.funnytheworld.com/2012/Sep/elephantfeet.jpg)
As I have mentioned here many times, I find elephants endlessly
fascinating and look forward to finishing this book and knowing even more.
![TVBack.jpg (226676 bytes)](http://www.funnytheworld.com/2012/Sep/TVBack.jpg)
But the best thing about "feet" tonight is looking through
them,
watching the TV, which is fixed and BACK!
watching the TV, which is fixed and BACK!
3 comments:
I gave up any idea of seeing a podiatrist regularly when I went for another condition (unfixable, he told me). He offered to cut my nails...and drew blood.
Medicare won't pay for routine podiatrist visits, but I can go to a very good nail shop for a pedicure. It's clean. The girls are gentle. The chairs have massagers. They'll paint my nails every time. And it costs less than the "professional."
I'm with you, Harriet. I love getting a pedicure, and try to get one at least once a month. I can no longer tend to my own feet easily, so I decided it was "necessary". Around here, a "pedi" plus tip comes to $30.00, and usually includes a wonderful foot and lower leg massage. 8^)
Not to put a damper on pedicures (I had one once and it was wonderful) but I typed too many reports about nail parlors and tragic things that happen. I talked with the RN yesterday who talked about the lack of sanitation even in the most carefully controlled places. She says the most safe place for a pedicure is a school, where sanitation must be strictly controlled. (E.g., did you know that after they sanitize a basin, it needs to rest for 30 minutes before being re-filled?)
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