To Walk Without Shoes

My parents have always warned me about walking without shoes.
"You'll get a tapeworm ,the ground's filthy," my mother would say.
"If you step on a nail you'll end up with lockjaw.Not to mention you would have to get a tetanus shot," my father informed me.
"Then you'll talk like this ," my sister teased,clamping her teeth together and talking with flawed speech and stiff lips.
Regardless of this I've taken it upon myself many times throughout my life to walk without shoes.I've done it recently on my way to toss out a bag of garbage.
It was weeks ago as I rushed out of the front door,furious over something so trivial that I've already forgotten what it was.My hand full of plastic as I carried the thin trashbag down the two flights of stairs and kicked my loafers off as I exited the stuffy building.
It was a perfect afternoon as I stepped into the daylight.The sky was a bright aqua blue ,not a cloud blotted out the sun's brilliance.The air smelled of freshly clipped grass and the aroma of new mulch.The entire world seemed to be clear and sharper than the tip of a newly shaved pencil.
The mix of smooth stones and rough pavement scratched my heals as I traveled along.I strolled into the dirt path and stopped to heave the overloaded sack into the dumpster.I paused beneath a tree for a brief moment to feel the ground I walked on.The earth dusted the soles of my feet as I stood there,the leaves ruffled with a passing breeze.A pattern of sun and shadows played across my legs. I deeply breathed in the musty scent of the tree's bark and continued back home.
Forget about tapeworms,lockjaw,and tetanus shots,every second of absorbing the world into the pad's of my feet was worth it.