Staying Grounded

The boys next door--captured with zoom

I was out late last night. Out in the yard. In the dark.  I had been absorbed in some Sunday night television with the husband but still wanted to sprinkle a few things, including some grass I had cut short on Saturday late afternoon.

While I was hosing the grass in the dark, with the full force of our downhill from the water tower pressure, I noticed this huge fire two doors over.

There is a rumor that the boys will be putting the house up for sale soon. The bunny haven that has been accumulating for years in the backyard is being chipped and/or burned in preparation for selling. They have some sort of fire pit, but a flame this huge must be illegal. My neighbor tells me they had a hose handy.

Fire and water. Basic and elemental since time began. But I was participating in a new and "groundbreaking" experiment with the earth--grounding in my yard. Let me explain.

I can't believe that I have never heard of this before, but there is a movement called earthing or grounding which encourages tapping into earth's charges--supposedly electrons--which have all kinds of "positive" effects on the body: thinning the blood, charging the blood cells to promote flow, and promoting anti-oxidant effects (reduction of those dreaded free radicals and reduction in the body's inflammatory response). And you sleep better. All this from going barefoot in the grass--damp grass for better conductivity. Grounding on the wet lake shore is also optimal, but even concrete will allow for the flow.

Those already on blood thinners are actually warned against too much grounding! 80 minutes and your blood is thinned!

So ... I put on some dirty lawn-mowing socks and did a little grounding while I watered.

Rubber-soled shoes block the flow. Most of our shoes, even my birks, have rubber bottoms. But I have some old leather moccasins that should conduct as well as my cotton socks. On the earthing sites I noted that I could order some, e.g., buffalo or bull-leather moccasins designed for grounding. Some have copper or other metal points in the shoes to help with the transmission of the "free" electrons, but the ones I saw were pricey. The center of the ball of the foot is reputed to be the optimal transmission point.

Since winter time in Michigan is tough for bare feet, one can also apparently hook up a grounding mat that is attached electrically to a ground outside, so you can ground while you compute.

How totally crazy does this sound to you?

Having just viewed another episode of the popular Under the Dome mini-series (which totally strains credulity), this actually seems somewhat plausible to me.

Perhaps I knew this truth as a young child. My parents were not successful in getting me to wear shoes. I loved to go barefoot and took my shoes off in the car and whenever I could. My brothers even called me a nasty (poopy) name as a result of my going barefoot in the farmyard.

So ... I dug out my (not earth shoes), but earthing shoes! Which daughter now regrets leaving them home? They are machine washed and sanitized and ready to do some grounding in my yard!