Connecting the Dots & Finding the Hidden Truths Behind Well-Known Stories

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently shattered my ankle, damaging a lot of the soft tissue in my lower leg and foot. I have had home health nurses and physical therapists visiting my home three times a week since then to help me get to the point where I am now walking with a very cool yet functional cane. 

My physical therapist and I were talking about the stories behind the stories in the Bible, such as how the reason that Jesus used dirt to make the blind man see was because the blind man was born without eyes and Christ was showing us that he was God by making human organs from the dust, like he did when he created Adam in the Garden of Eden on the sixth day. 

He, being unaware of many of these connections, yet fascinated by them, asked for books that would show him more. Thus I suggested the following six books for him: 

1. The Orthodox New Testament Volume One: The Holy Gospels (Evangelistarion)
2. The Orthodox New Testament Volume Two: Acts, Epistles, & Revelation (Praxapostolos)
3. The Orthodox Psalter: The Psalterion According to the Seventy, With the Nine Odes, & Patristic Commentary
4. The Lives of the Holy Prophets: The Major & Minor Prophets of the Old Testament
5. The Lives of the Holy Apostles: Saints Peter, Paul, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Jude, Simon, Matthias, Mark, Luke, & James
6. The Life of the Virgin Mary, The Theotokos

I also pointed to him to the following three blog articles I wrote on this blog:

1. The Gospel According to Saint John, Chapter Six: A Parallel of the Passover & the Exodus of Israel
2. The Theophanies of Christ in Both the Old & New Testaments
3. Types & Anti-Types in the Holy Bible

If you or anyone you know are interested in the connections of the Old Testament to the New Testament, or the stories behind the stories in The Holy Writ, check out these books and articles, which will help you see what previously was unseen to you. 

Have You Seen Them? The Quest for Wide Skate Shoes!

For those of you who don't know, I have wide feet. When getting back into skating, I found that Vans are now way too narrow (Yes, even the pro models - I confirmed with Vans that they intentionally have made all of their shoes narrower in order to save on materials, thus increasing profit). and I cannot wear them. I finally found that the vegan suede Vallelys by Cariuma stretched to fit my wide feet and stood up to a beating.

In May, I suffered a triple ankle fracture and dislocation and am finally walking after 6 months of recovery and healing with strenuous PT (physical therapy). However my left foot and ankle are now wider than before and I no longer can even get my Cariuma Vallely skate shoes on. Cariuma confirmed that the vegan suede Vallely shoes were their best shoes for wide feet and refunded the camel coloured pair I had on pre-order (I currently have charcoal and black Vallely shoes). So I reached out to the subreddit, r/OldSkaters, for suggestions for truly wide shoes. 

I got many suggestions and reached out to the skate shoe companies to ask what their widest shoes were. Nike SB, New Balance Numeric, and Adidas Skate Shoes were all out, as their shoes are narrow and have no wide options. Plus, I prefer to support skater-owned companies (like Death Skateboards, Film Trucks, Snot Wheels, Zealous Bearings, etc.) when I can.

• Shoe #1 was the Etnies Marana. I was excited by its fashion-forward looks, but unfortunately, I could not even put my foot in it, just like my Cariuma Vallelys. Immediate return. Etnies Footwear confirmed this was their widest shoe.

• Shoe #2 was the DC Court Graffiks. They looked nice, and thankfully, I could get my foot in, but the toe box was way too narrow. Sent them back. DC Shoes confirmed this was their widest shoe.

• Shoe #3 was the Osiris D3 2001s arrived and they were a chonky shoe that seemed to fit good with a wider toe-box but, while comfortable as-is, will definitely require some breaking in at the upper over the toes and at the achilles tendon area. Osiris Shoes confirmed this was their widest shoe.

• Shoe #4 was the Globe Mens Tilt Skate Shoe. I could get my foot in with some pushing, but then it slid in nicely. It felt really good... ...until my toes hit the toe-box. Immediately I felt compressing pressure on my pinky toe. Not only on my recovering broken ankle, but the good foot too. While these looked good, there was no way I would be able to wear them. Globe Shoes did not respond to my query on if this was their widest shoe or not.
  

And so the winner is...

...Based on my experience, for people with wide feet, your best choice is going to be the Osiris D3 2001 Skate Shoes, and I went with the Gold/Grey/Beige colorway model. If your toes are small, you might be able to get away with the Globe Tilt or the DC Court Graffik Skateboard Shoes, but the Etnies Marana is a definite no go, no way, no how. I hope this helps someone out there struggling to find good quality wide skate shoes like I was.