The mall in West Edmonton is one of those mega-malls. Mega is the key word. There is a small amusement park and a water-park on site as well as an IMAX theater,  car wash, casino and a replica of Columbus’s Santa Maria. We went with my best friend and her two children who are here for the wedding. The first thing I said to Rob when we walked in via the Bourbon Street entrance was, “Let’s never come here again.”

I am not an anti-mall or even an anti-shopping person. I love malls. I like shopping that doesn’t involve being outdoors and exposed to the elements Getting in and out of the car with a child is wearying and so one stop anything is always better. Edmonton’s mega mall was at one time the largest in the world though I believe that the one in Minneapolis now enjoys that distinction. The first thing I noticed was something I have seen all over the area so far in that doorways are smoking havens here. So, after you hold your breath long enough to run that foul gauntlet and make it inside, you will find that it still smells somewhat ……bad…..and that the smell doesn’t improve so much as it just morphs into some other bad smell as you wander from here to there. Thank goodness for olfactory fatigue.

Like most malls of any great size, it is hard to hear. Sounds echo and assault. It is too narrow. Dodging people becomes an objective that overrides window shopping. Strollers are hazardous to child and passersby alike. Teenagers and younger adults are less bearable as they travel in small packs and add to the generally deafening atmosphere.

After coercing the girls (ages 9, 5 and 4) into allowing a bit of necessary wedding shopping, we took them to the amusement park. My friend proved again why she is the best by offering to shepherd the kids around so Rob and I could go off on our own for a late lunch which led us to the food court, an even more smelly destination but romantic lunches are about the participants more than the locale. Anywhere I can spend a bit of uninterrupted time gazing into my love’s eyes and talking about life it’s all good.

Hooking up with my friend and the girls, we spent another hour navigating the amusement park and satiating the children’s need for thrill and terror before heading back to the hotel to drop off our friends and head over to Montana’s to meet with Rob’s older daughter, Farron.

Montana’s is a meat restaurant. Dead carcass of all kinds, mainly the mooing variety, are offered up in a variety of ways. I used to eat dead animal myself and still eat fish on occasion, but after stomach issues forced me to modify my eating habits and diet I gave more thought to what it is that I was really putting into my mouth. Flesh is flesh and I am even beginning to think that fish is probably a bad idea. Digression finished. Farron is a cook at Montana’s and we thought she would be working but as it turned out she was attending the dinner portion of a stagette at the nearby Moxie’s, so we spent time with her there.

It was, in retrospect, the kind of day that normal people spend, entertaining out of town friends, occupying children with weekend diversions, and relaxing at the dinner table with family. Normality. Once just a concept and now a reality, of sorts, again.