The ankle doctor told me that my right big toe knuckle — the metatarsal — lacks any shred of cartilage. Bone spur upon bone spur and bone on bone. No wonder the pain hits me when I put on a pair of boots. Why is the ankle doctor going on about my toe? I guess the toe bone is in fact connected to the aching ankle tendons, especially when you’ve got a big flat foot in between. I don’t exactly understand it all but I do recall the doctor recommending that I wear shoes like his — long, flat black leather loafers — rather than the flip flops I had on. Lucky I spend a lot of time on my butt, writing and reading, not on my feet. But still, a person wants to walk in a glade or climb a mountain once in a while.