My upbringing included being barefoot for much of the time. I was born and raised in the South where the temperature certainly provides plenty of opportunity to be barefoot. Even in the winter, I was wearing flip flops as the HVAC heat pump very rarely kicked on for heat. There is something just special about walking through the grass with no shoes. That is an elemental feeling of my youth to this day. So, it was with great sadness when I had to move to the far north for a job. The job was just to great to turn down. But, I knew going into it that I would be committing to living in the north for the foreseeable future. I made the right decision. The area I live in is beautiful and the culture is one of inclusiveness. The only thing I really miss is not being able to run around with my shoes off like ever. That was until I built my house. I kept the structure very basic and went pretty minimalist on amenities. However, I did make an investment in the HVAC. I chose to heat and cool my home using a geothermal HVAC system. The system uses the earths near constant temperature to heat and cool the house. The awesome thing is that the heat is transferred using water. The warm water then moves into copper tubing under the flooring. That’s right, I can walk around in barefoot again. It sounds silly but it has given me back an element of living south that I really needed. Plus, the efficiency will pay for itself the next 30 years.