Tags: flânerie, architecture, exercise, urbanism, openstreetmap Authors: D. Joe
I circumambulated the Mall at Greece Ridge today.
(map image and data © OpenStreetMap contributors)
Which is to say, I walked around it. Not, strictly speaking, in a circle. And not, strictly speaking, for ritual purposes, although that comparison did come to mind. I didn't even set out to walk around it, at first. I got about a quarter of the way around, then decided to give it a go. I suppose there might have been some hint of doing this as a ward against--or atonement for or a reclamation from--the evils of suburban sprawl. This all tempered, to be fair, by the sheer absurdity. Take your pick as to which flavor of absurdity: That such a thing exists to be walked around, or that someone would bother to walk around a thing so obviously hostile to the act.
And to be clear, I did not at any point walk inside it, so I did not walk around as in wandering around inside, following the retail trap design of these sorts of things. What I did is definitely against the plan, to the extent it could even be said to have a plan.
The weather, though overcast and cold, was warmer and more dry than it has been for days, and there was little to no wind. I needed to get my daily walk in anyway. So, I figured it might actually be healthier, what with the pandemic and all, just to stay outside.