WINTER WALKING

It was a dreary morning as I was sitting on the couch, sipping a cup of tea, looking out the window.

My son Alex walked into the room. “Morning! What are you up to today?”

“Not that.” I said as I pointed out the window.

Alex came over to see what I was pointing at. “Wow! It’s like everyone in the neighborhood is outside!”

“Jogging no less!” I looked over at Alex as I tucked the blanket around my legs. “It’s not even nice out.” I leaned over and put my tea cup on the coffee table.

“Is it raining out?” Alex leaned closer to the window to see if he could see any drops in the puddles.

“It stopped about twenty minutes ago.” I pointed my thumb toward the window. “But these crazies were running in the rain, too.”

Alex laughed. “Hey, maybe they all did New Year’s resolutions. If that’s the case I’m glad they’re sticking to it.”

I shook my head. “New Year’s resolutions are such a rookie move.”

“Rookie move?” Alex called over his shoulder as he went into the kitchen to make his coffee.

“Sure.” I got up off the couch and grabbed my mug. “Everyone’s thinking about losing weight after the holidays. But it’s only the first week.” I grabbed the kettle and went to the sink to fill it with water. “Just wait.” I put the kettle on the stove and turned it on. “Just wait until February. None of them will be out there then.”

“Because there’ll probably be snow and ice on the ground.” Alex went and got the milk out of the refrigerator to pour into his cup.

“Exactly!” I nodded. Grateful that he realized their rookie mistake. “They should have started their exercise program when it was warmer out.”

Alex looked at me confused. “Who’s to say they won’t use a treadmill when it gets cold out?”

That made me stop for a moment. “Wait.” I looked over at Alex. “They can’t all have treadmills at home.”

“Why?” Alex shook his head. “We have one.”

“Well, that’s different.” I took a tea bag out of the box and placed it in my cup. Then began pouring hot water over it. “Because I never use ours.”

Alex started to laugh. “But Dad and I do all the time!”

“They can’t all have treadmills!” I cried.

Alex took his phone out of his pocket. “Let’s look it up and see.” He began typing and handed me the phone when an article came up.

I began to read out loud. “Home fitness gear surges during pandemic.” I read further down. “Are you kidding me!” I cried as I pointed to the article. “Sales of treadmills went up 135 percent!”

Alex grabbed his coffee cup and headed for the living room. “Told you.”

I was right behind him with my cup of tea. We stood next to one another taking small sips and looking out the front window as even more joggers went by.

“Stupid pandemic.” I looked over at Alex and shook my head. “I guess I’m going to have to start using our treadmill now.” I sighed. “But I’m not going to be jogging!”