Barefoot Ramblings (with my shoes on)

So I've been at my new job about a month now.  I get off work at 5 EVERY DAY and I'm home by 5:40 if I  drive slow.  Um, ya I'm still thrilled.  I never used to be home before 6:30 and that was the one week a month I didn't have to work a later shift. 

What difference does it make?  Well, I can do laundry and other fun stuff during the week and leave more of my weekends to feel like weekends.  That alone is pretty nice.  Today I actually took the dogs to the woods across the way for a walk, came home and ate dinner, and it's still light out.  Craziness!

I used to run the trails over there barefoot when I first started the barefoot running thing, but since I've seen signs over there for wild hog hunts and someone on Facebook posted a picture of a very, very large cat in that park.  Now I get freaked out when I hear a lizard crawling through the leaves over there. One bad thing about running barefoot (besides the occasional stepping in yuck) is I feel a bit more vulnerable. What am I going to do, kick something attacking me with my bare foot?  Great, I'll break a toe but at least it won't matter because some rabid beast will be eating my leg anyway.

I've recently realized that since I started running barefoot in January I've worn shoes a lot less in general.  I've always been one to wear shoes to work that I can kick off under my desk but these days I rarely even wear them when I go visiting the family.  I tend to take them off when walking in the rain because water makes my sandals slippery. And honestly, that makes perfect sense to do, but I never used to, I'd slip around on my shoes all night instead.

It makes me kind of wonder.  Why do people not do the sensible?  It's sometimes a bit embarrassing to walk around barefoot in public (bar hopping lets you get away with it though) just because no one else is.  I have no desire to make any kind of statement but if it's more comfortable and easier, why not?

The biggest thing I wonder is if other people who run barefoot find themselves wearing their shoes less and less?