From: Jeff Pages
Subject: Bare feet in the rain
Date: 29 Jan 97 17:38:02 EST

It has been raining constantly in Sydney for the last
two days, after what has so far been a very dry summer. 
My walk from the railway station to work takes in about 
2km of forest trail, with a varying surface of gravel, 
sand, clay and sandstone outcrops. In the dry it is a 
pleasant barefoot walk but in the wet it becomes a magical
experience, particularly at this time of the year with
the temperature around 24 C (75 F).

The clay becomes soft like putty and molds around my
feet, while all the little watercourses start flowing and
the stream that normally is just a trickle becomes quite
a torrent to wade through. It is amazing just how well
bare feet grip to wet rock and slushy surfaces.

On the steeper sections of the trail there is water
cascading down the rocks and it feels great clambering
up with the water splashing over my feet.

The forecast is for the rain to continue till at least
the middle of next week (which probably means it will
clear tomorrow) so I should have nice muddy wet feet for
a few more days yet.

Happy barefootin',

Jeff