I’d been wanting a pedicure for a couple of months now. I don’t usually wait for sandal weather; I like a pedicure any time. For one thing, I can’t seem to clip my own toenails properly and so get ingrown ones. And I never do the pumice stone thing right, either. I like to leave these things to the professionals.
Now that we’ve skipped right from spring into summer, it seemed even more imperative to have pretty toes. When I remembered that this Saturday was my sisters’ wine tasting trip, and I might want to wear sandals, my situation seemed dire.
I know, some of you are saying, “Come on! Dire?” (While nice ladies with pretty toes are nodding wisely in agreement.) I’m working overtime, I have rehearsals three days a week, I have a dog to walk a house to clean, laundry to do, a husband NOT to neglect… other people may handle their overcrowded schedules with panache (although I doubt it). I feel… if not overwhelmed, at least 80 to 90 percent whelmed.
Wednesday was the best day to get my pedicure. The operative thing to do was to make a four o’clock appointment and bring my sandals to work, so I could go straight to my appointment and not upset my dog (she hates it when you come home then leave right away). Of course I neglected to make said appointment. Maybe I could call from work. I forgot the sandals. Maybe all of you would see your way clear, but I pondered and dithered. Finally I found Hot Spot’s phone number in the phone book and called during lunch. A 4:30 appointment was open. I could go home, shower and change. I would disappoint my dog, but sometimes these things can’t be helped.
Of course getting couldn’t be easy with me. I wanted to go down Washington Street. I wondered if I really wanted to go by the courthouse, which at this time of day would probably have a lot of car and foot traffic. I reasoned that I would have time to make it through and it was the least complicated way to go. Then I got so absorbed in maneuvering through four way stops on German Street that I missed the turn. Now it was complicated. I turned right at the next opportunity and hoped for the best. I hope everybody realizes that missing a turn in Herkimer is not always easily fixed by a drive around the block. The blocks are not the squares and rectangles we expect. But my walking and running in the area stood me in good stead. I came out on Washington below the court house. Yay me. I can never do these things on purpose, but sometimes they work out.
I found a parking space a little ways down from the Hot Spot. Of course, as I walked to the door I saw at least three closer spots, but you can’t count on these things.
As soon as I walked in, Claire greeted me and said she’d be right with me. Then I turned around and walked back out, because I realized I had left my book in the truck. It’s the kind of day I’d been having (as you can tell). No matter. Once I had my feet in the warm, bubbly water, I knew I had done the right thing. Claire said she had an eyebrow waxing but would be right back.
“Take your time,” I said. “Now that I’m soaking, I’m happy.”
I opened my book about the Last Woman Hanged: Roxalana Druse, but part of me wanted to stare at nail polish colors and ponder my choice. A paragraph in, the book had my full attention. I was hoping to finish it by this weekend, because my mother and at least one sister want to borrow it.
Once Claire was working on my feet, though, it was more pleasant to chat. I told her about wine tasting and showed her my book. This led to a discussion of murderesses in general and the show Snapped. A lady and her daughter were also getting pedicures, and the girl doing theirs (I foolishly did not get her name) said she watched Snapped all the time.
“My fiance tells me, ‘Don’t get any ideas!'”
Claire brought up the movie Conviction, about a man wrongfully accused. The young girl who was getting a pedicure had heard a talk by Steven Barnes at her school. Barnes, in case you didn’t know, is a local man who served 18 years for a crime he did not commit. He was exonerated, but the real murderer has not been caught.
When it came time to pick my color, I first thought a neon pink which had been considered by the lady next to me. Then Claire pointed out a purple, which was also new.
“That seems more like you,” she said.
I felt so pleased by the recommendation, because it showed that Claire remembered me from previous visits. In fact, it’s been at least a year since I’ve been to the Hot Spot. I certainly won’t wait that long again. It was a great recommendation, too. I love my purple toes. I did not make a note of the color name. Something Plum, I think. It doesn’t really matter, because I never do the same color twice in a row.
I was sorry to put on socks and shoes for work this morning (not too sorry, though; safety first). Even if the temperatures cool off on Saturday, I will probably try to wear sandals for at least part of our wine tasting tour.
Hot Spot is located at 121 E. Albany St., Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-866-9113. You can also find them on Facebook.
