I Love the Sound of Flip-Flops

I love the sound of flip-flops.

I love the way they make you pad gently and the sole of your foot sticks momentarily to the shoe making a sort of swoosh as it breaks free and the flop of the shoe as it hits the ground.

There is something swishy and gentle and quite feminine about them, although men wear them too. Perhaps I like them on men because they show a feminine side – the side all men should know about, whether they wish to get in touch with it or not. Obviously that is their own prerogative.

I love the name flip-flop too. Whoever invented that knew what he, or she was talking about. Shoes that flip and shoes that flop. Shoes that are hardly there at all. Shoes that are well suited to a hot or beachy climate. Even the name conjures up that easy, summertime way of life.

I prefer the ones that are made of that sort of foamy stuff because they are so light they hardly seem to be there at all – the only way you know that you are wearing anything is the flip and the flop and the squish of air as it is pressed out of the foam.

I love the way you have just a toe grip to hold them on. I love the way it slips between your big toe and the next one, quite seductive really, dividing and separating your main toe from the rest. Sometimes that takes a little bit of getting used to if you are just out of winter shoes, but if your toes are not too tight there is generally very little chafing – however, longer walks should not be undertaken until worn in.

I love lying on my bed during the hot afternoon siesta listening to the gentle pad, pad, swoosh, squish of people as they pass in the laneway below my window. You can hear the slightness of sweat and feel the coolness of the air circulating around bare feet.

Did I mention that I love feet?