Friday, January 19, 2007

Goofy foot on the ice

As I kid my natural tendency was to be a goofy footed skateboarder.

I broke myself of the habit and learn to lead with my left foot and push off with my right. Although now it turns out that some of the best skateboarders in the sport are indeed goofy foot. Lesson learned...always go with what feels natural in terms of board sports.

Anyhow, due to the 6 inches of recent sleet that turned every road, sidewalk and driveway in our small town into the Ice Capades, I've been forced to slip'n slide my way around the hood during my daily doggy walks without the benefit of studded snow shoes, spiked heels, or the Mach 5's Control B that "sprouts special grip tires for traction over any kind of terrain, at the same time, 5,000 horsepower (yikes!) is distributed equally to each wheel by auxiliary engines.”

What I have discovered is that going goofy foot works for me here.

No, not on a skateboard (of which I don't even own one anymore), but on my shoe clad feet.

Whenever I came to a slight downward incline in the street, sidewalk, or alleyway, I would hold the pooch's leash tight in my left hand, stick my right foot forward, push off with my left, and just glide down the slight hill as if I was on my old clay-wheeled skateboard from the 70's.

Normally, the pooch would retain more traction on the ice than I would (4 feet, low center of gravity, claws, survival instinct, etc.) and would actually aid in my downward acceleration...once she got over the shock of seeing her pack leader shoe skating goofy footed.

Temps hit the 40's yesterday and the sun came out long enough to turn a lot of the ice to slush. Therefore shoe stating wasn't as "totally righteous, dude."

But the ultimate incline is out there, just waiting for the overnight freeze and my smooth souled shoes to go mano-a-mano on the icy sidewalks of my small town.

1 comment:

eccentricego said...

thank goodness for easy amusement - sounds fun