Great post, I've been thinking about this lately because I noticed that the illustrated women in old children's books aren't wearing any shoes. Also we recently moved to the country and our neighbor's kids don't wear shoes on their livestock farm. So I've taken to going barefoot on quick trips around the yard and it feels really good to stretch your feet.

However I wouldn't do that at night, my headlamp illuminates spider eyes and the ground is FULL of them. Apparently copperheads come out at night too but I haven't seen one yet.

For alternative barefoot shoes may I recommend simple Minnetonka leather-bottomed moccasins. They're basically leather socks with no rubber sole so you may still be able to ground. I've worn them on pavement just fine, as long as it's not too cold out they should be fine.