No Shoes, No Shirt And Dirt Road Memories

In the song Coal Miners Daughter, Loretta Lynn lamented the fact that in the summer they "didn't have shoes to wear". My parents by no means were wealthy, and most of us did not have a closet full of shoes like adults and children have today. In fact, typically at any given time we only had two or three at the most. Usually those consisted of your Sunday shoes, and your school shoes, typically a pair of sneakers, and in the wintertime a new pair of boots. Play shoes were more often than not an old pair of shoes that you had not already outgrown. Because of this and the fact that your parents had to plan and save to buy shoes, more often than not, playing outside in the summer time was in your bare feet.

You must realize also that I grew up before everything was harmful, and yes, I have drunk from a water hose on numerous occasions. If you listened to the experts today, you would really wonder just how we ever survived our childhood. Could you imagine today if a mother sent her child outside without a shirt and not lathered up in sunblock, the outrage and condemnation she would receive? That is just the way we left the house just about every typical summer morning. You see in my youth people, actually thought the sun was good for you and that it was healthy to have a summer time tan.

Every day we would run outside with the screen door slamming behind us with no shirt, no shoes and only short pants on our little bodies, ready to take on the world, or at least our neighborhood. Remember also that there were really only three reasons you went back in the house, lunch, supper, or a bad storm. On many occasions, our mothers would even serve us lunch outside. For most of us that was fine, because outside was our world and we could be whoever we wanted to be, and play uninterrupted all day.

Not wearing shoes was never a hindrance and there was something challenging about seeing just how much your feet could tolerate. Climbing trees or running down the road, we were kings of our neighborhoods and nothing slowed us down. Many times, I remember running down the dirt road that once ran in front of my grandparents’ house. If you have ever run down a dirt road in bare feet you know that where the cars run is usually smooth enough, but step in the middle or on the sides and you will get a stone bruise.

Let us not even start to discuss the number of scrapes that came from falling down while running or from sliding out of a tree. Amazingly, the scrapes and bruises never slowed us down. If they were bad enough you went to the door and mom would apply mercurochrome or Merthiolate, all I remember is the funny orange color on my skin and that one of those two really burned when applied.

One memory I especially remember is running behind the tractor in bare feet as my grandfather would plow his garden. I especially remember how cool the freshly plowed dirt felt on my feet. How I would love to follow behind him just one more time in my bare feet.

Even now, I can remember running straight down that old rutted out dirt road that led to the creek. One of the great things about not wearing a shirt or shoes is the ease in which you could jump straight into the cold water with no hesitation. On other occasions, we would carry our fishing rods and just sit on the banks of that creek all day. It never mattered if we caught anything it was the experience that was important.

Too often today, we worry too much and think we have to entertain our children. As a result, we never just let them go outside and play. Parents would do their children well to let them go outside with no shoes (and for the boys) no shirt. Take out the garden hose, turn the water on and see just what happens. There are no medications available, which will give your children the peace of mind, which comes from just having some good old-fashioned fun.

Perhaps we all should just take our shoes off and remember just how it felt to be a child again. As for myself, I would rather be barefoot anytime and I especially dislike socks, so I guess in some ways I have never grown up. Maybe one day in eternity, The Good Lord will allow me to take my shoes off and walk in freshly plowed ground again behind my grandfather. I sure hope so.