In December, I became determined to get back into walking for exercise. But the weather was of course horrid for the most part, so I thought I’d take up the American sport of mall walking. We have a moderately sized indoor shopping mall in Kitsap, only a few minutes drive from Freya’s preschool. I dropped her off at nine, then headed to the mall with Audrey and the stroller, intent on at least forty minutes of brisk walking.

Here’s what I learned after having done this activity about a dozen or so times since then. Mall walking is somehow even more boring than being on a treadmill. Much more dull than circling an oval track. And besides that, the repetitive sight of the same dreary retail shops over and over again gets a bit depressing. Kitsap Mall doesn’t have very interesting places to window shop. No, it has Spencer’s and Claire’s and Cinnabon, and obscure bargain-basement clothing stores full of cable knit sweaters and old lady blouses from China. I made a full loop of the mall every ten minutes, so I got to pass these places four times each morning. Oh and when it’s not Christmastime, you get to listen to wall-to-wall 1950s oldies, the cheesier the better.

The weather has softened and dried out a bit. This morning I dropped off Freya, and then headed home to bundle Audrey snug in the stroller and head down our driveway. We walked out to the main road, listening to distant cars and flocks of birds overhead. I felt the cold breeze on my ears. I looked around at the clouds and the trees — there are tiny buds starting to grow on a few of the cherry trees on Noll. Audrey was gazing around too, in fact she was so captivated she didn’t even fall asleep until we were almost home again, forty-five minutes later. She’s still asleep now, in the entry way of our house. This walk was quiet and invigorating, giving me a chance to calm my mind and think about things. I believe our brief episode of mall walking is at an end.