There is a certain time of year I look forward to more than anything.

Barefoot season.

A perfect year has a smooth transition. From barefoot days on spring break in Florida straight into barefoot days back home in Michigan. It does not always work that way. Michigan has a way of reminding you it is still in charge, especially in April.

But every once in a while, you get a stretch like we have had the past few days. Seventies. Sun. No reason to grab shoes.

And just like that, barefoot season starts early.

It is hard to explain the feeling if you have not lived it. Going from six or seven months of wrapping your feet up in warm socks, boots, and layers, to stepping outside with nothing between you and the ground.

Shedding your shoes and socks kind of feels like shedding your worries away. Like a breath of fresh air. Your body and your mood both feel it in ways that are hard to describe.

Lately, we have been joking and calling it earthing. Kind of a hippy term, but there is something real to it. That connection to the ground. Sand, grass, water, even mud.

It does something to you.

In Michigan, it feels like one of those things you get to strip away after a long winter. You lighten the load. You loosen up a bit. Life does not feel so tight.

A perfect day this time of year looks simple. No socks. No sandals. No shoes. Which usually means we are not going anywhere, and honestly, that is part of the beauty of it.

Just being home. Being outside.

Walking through the yard in the morning and feeling the dew on the grass. That cold, fresh feeling that wakes you up better than coffee. Spending the day at the lake, where wearing sandals or shoes would feel almost ridiculous. In the water. On the dock. In the sand. Barefoot just makes sense.

And then ending the day around the fire, toes stretched out toward the warmth. Letting the heat hit your feet while the night cools down around you.

You do have to watch out for those spicy logs that roll out of the pit.

It is all different, but it all connects you back to the same thing.

Being present.

After a long Michigan winter, barefoot season feels like freedom. Like a reset. Like a reminder that slower days are ahead.

And when it finally comes around, I do not take it for granted.

-Justin