My upbringing included being barefoot for much of the time.
I was born and raised in the South where the temperature particularly provides plenty of opportunity to be barefoot.
Even in the winter, I was wearing flip flops as the Heating, Ventilation, and A/C heat pump truly rarely kicked on for heat. There is something just special about walking through the turf with no shoes. That is an elemental feeling of our youth to this day. So, it was with wonderful sadness when I had to transport to the far north for a job. The job was just to wonderful 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 lovely and the culture is one of inclusiveness. The only thing I particularly miss is not being able to run around with our shoes off love ever. That was until I built our house. I kept the structure truly basic and went pretty minimalist on amenities. However, I did make an investment in the Heating, Ventilation, and A/C. I chose to heat and cool our home using a geothermal Heating, Ventilation, and A/C system. The plan uses the earths near constant temperature to heat and cool the house. The awesome thing is that the heat is transferred using water. The boiling 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 particularly needed. Plus, the efficiency will spend money for itself the next 30 years.