Dear Wigleaf,

The other morning, as I took my constitutional around the perimeter of Prospect Park, I felt something in my shoe, perhaps a pebble. It was annoying, so I found a place to stop, a bench, and sat down. I took my shoe off, the left one, and shook it. Nothing came out. I put my hand in the shoe and felt around, but I found nothing, so I put the shoe back on and started walking again.

Pretty soon I felt it again, this time moving around in the shoe. First the arch, then the heel, then the ball of my foot. I found a fire hydrant, put my foot up on it, untied my left shoe, and pulled it off as I balanced myself on my right foot, not wanting to put my stocking foot on the city sidewalk—especially near a fire hydrant. I shook the shoe vigorously enough to make a perfectly blended vinaigrette. No pebble, no foreign object of any sort. I put my shoe back on and started walking again.

I took a few steps, and then realized I had forgotten to try something. I hadn't removed my sock, to see if the foreign object was actually in the sock. So I went back to the hydrant and performed the same routine as before—with the addition of removing my left sock, turning it inside out, shaking it, and running the palm of my hand across the bottom of my foot. Still nothing. I put my sock and shoe back on and started walking.

After only a few steps I felt something in my shoe again, only this time it was the other shoe, the right one. I walked home through the discomfort. At home I took my shoes and socks off. I couldn't find any foreign object in either shoe or sock, but there appeared to be a slight indentation on the ball of my foot, my left foot, about the size of a pebble.

Hope you're well.

Best,

Pete