Thursday, December 2, 2010

Sock Envy

This is one of my dearest friends, Alison. She used to live in Utah, but that was not cold and dark enough for her, so she moved to Norway. As of today, December 2, they had 6 hours and 26 minutes of daylight. I will NOT be visiting in the winter. Compared to Phoenix, where we have 10 hours of daylight right now. But it has been chilly. These are the words that have been used to describe the weather recently: Chilly, Brisk, and (my favorite) Crisp. "We are expecting Crisp weather today in the Valley of the Sun. The high will be 61." So my feet have been cold. Not to say that I have cold feet, because that is something different, entirely. Alison turned 40 the first part of November. Since she moved to a frigid land, and called me in August to ask if our Costco had any deals for bulk wool socks. There was a long pause as I let it sink in what she was asking me. Wool socks are NEVER found in bulk in Phoenix, let alone in the middle of August, when no sane person is thinking of wearing close toed shoes until December. So, being the thoughtful friend that I am, sent her a gifty for turning the big 4-0. Forty wool socks. There were forty other things in there, like forty pieces of gum, and cosmetics with the number 40 in the product description, but I knew she needed those socks. So when the weather turned, I started wishing that I had kept some of those socks for myself. I dreamt of having cozy feet in wool socks walking around in shorts and a jacket. So imagine my elation when I opened my sock drawer and realized: I HAVE WOOL SOCKS!!!! I had forgotten about them, but this is a bonus to all of those treks down and out of the Grand Canyon. It appears that I got new socks for each trip (and maybe more, now that I think about it), because wool socks are essential to preventing blisters that pop in your other dear friend's vehicle just as you have sat down for that long trip back to Phoenix. All right, so it doesn't always work out like expected, but I am soooooo happy. Now that my feet are warm, the rest of me has magically warmed. Or is it because the weather people are no longer using the term Brisk to describe the weather? Now they are saying: Warm, Lovely, Enviable. I still miss Alison, though.