Phantom slippers

My feet are often cold. I have a thick pair of slippers at home that I rarely wear because they make my feet sweat, but somehow still feel cold. I wore them this morning at home first thing, mostly because I had worn them upstairs to bed and I had to take them back downstairs to put away.

Sitting at a desk at work, my feet feel that same cold, sweaty feeling and the fleece lining of the slippers. I can't believe I forgot to put on real shoes before leaving the house!

I squidge my toes and realize it's just the sensation. I'm wearing real shoes and socks.

I feel the sensations again, and squidge again. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

The fog retreats

I was running alone in Forest Park, climbing Dogwood Trail from Leif Erikson to Wildwood. We had snow two days prior, which had melted into ice and frozen pretty solid up in the hills. It was treacherous and slow going.

I heard a booming sound behind me, probably all the way down by the river. Alone in Forest Park, my paranoia often sparks and I think it's The Big One (earthquake). I paused for a moment and turned to hear better, wondering if the sound would also knock more ice off the trees or send more branches cracking down.

As I stared in the general direction of the sound, a group of maybe six small trees seemed to be either coming towards or moving away from me (I can't remember which), like the rack focus effect in a movie. I blinked a few times, looked away and looked back, but it kept happening.

It wasn't exactly foggy, but there was a bit of mist hanging around. I chalked it up to the trick of the moving mist.