Socks and Sandals - Memories -

Both of my parents have chests (cedar and military) where they have kept memorabilia from their pre-7 kids lives. As a child I loved opening my mother's cedar chest, smelling the cedar, and looking at never-used wedding gifts, my baby book, towels crocheted around the edges. And my father's was filled with dance costumes, his Navy uniform, and souvenirs he bought while living in Japan during the Korean war.

I was most fascinated by the scenes created from the beautifully intricate Japanese figurines he brought back to Rigby after the war - tea time, clipping nails, Geisha girls, wise men smoking pipes, all made from ceramic and fabrics. I liked the details and the stories they told, or rather, the stories I made up for them. 

Dad also had some kimonos - male and female, and he used to help us dress up in them, complete with the little "pillow" in the back of the woman's kimono. 

And yesterday, I was outside picking a few carrots, still growing just fine in the garden, and I didn't want to get my feet wet, but they were cold, so I had socks on, so I stuck my feet into my flipflops, and goodness - 

(Not my feet, or socks, or flipflops)

I remembered the wooden sandals he brought back from Japan, that were in his trunk, and the crisp cotton socks made especially for these sandals. 

And I remember putting these on after being dressed in the kimono and attempting to walk, like a Japanese lady, in these sandals. 

I'm grateful for a garden producing carrots which warranted my harvesting, warranting my socks and flip-flops, taking me on a quick trip down memory lane.