Appreciating your feet (March 23, 2025)
I am a big fan of walking. This has led to a daily goal of 10,000 steps.
A study attempted to identify the most walkable cities in the world. They ranked walkability in terms of the percent of people who walked to work (instead of driving or using public transportation.)
And the most walkable city in the world?
Quelimane, a seaport in Mozambique where 91% of the people walk to work (see pictures below). Number two is Peja, the fourth largest city in Kosovo
This is a Jeopardy question that no one will get.
The topic of walking led me to look at the history of shoes. The first shoes appear to have been worn about 40,000 years ago. How did archeologists decide that? Around that time the average length of the human toe began to increase since shoes sheltered the toes from the brutal pounding of the toes against rocky terrain.
There have been advances in shoes ever since. Sewing machines dropped the costs of shoes enabling people to have multiple pairs. Vulcanized rubber made soles much more durable and protective of feet. But I think the most impressive advances have been around design. A sample of some exquisite shoes is below.
If you look at shoes you wind up looking into the human foot.
Scientists who study evolution have long marvelled at the foot. It has a fourth of all of the bones in your body and is very complicated. Each foot has 26 bones, 33 joints, 19 muscles and 57 ligaments.
They note that in the ape family (including us) there are two major categories of feet – feet that enabled you to grab branches and climb and feet that enable you to run/walk long distances. We are obviously in the latter category.
To facilitate our ability to run/walk our toes could not be too short or too long. Our toes had have enough flexibility (and helped by the big toe) to enable us to have good balance. The arch of the foot had to provide a stiffness for the foot that enabled us to push off the ground when we walked/ran. The arch also acts as a shock absorber when we walk.
This evening take your socks off and gaze at your feet while remarking, “You are so cool. I am fortunate to have you.”