Barefoot in the Park

Hippies love to go barefoot, especially in public places that would otherwise demand footwear. They enjoy donning nothing but their bare soles while toodling about downtown, on trains and buses, in the grocery store, and in other public spaces of Portland and other Northwest hippie enclaves. They proudly display their dirty, graying feet and toes while sitting on tye-dye blankets and strumming cheap guitars while singing Joni Mitchell songs and cooking tabouli on a camp stove in the park. They speak excitedly about the calluses that build up on the bottoms of their hardened feet, picking at them like war wounds that have yet to heal completely. Yet, the reasons behind this lifestyle choice escape me. Do they think shoes are bad for the environment? Is it another one of those “natural is better” things? Are they simply preparing themselves for a fast-approaching world in which footwear is in short supply? If so, where do they come by this knowledge? These are the questions that keep me awake at night…