President Obama recently sat down with the editors and publishers of Hearst Magazines -- responsible for such periodicals as Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, O, The Oprah Magazine, Esquire and Cosmopolitan -- to talk about life in the White House and outside it. They found the president in a reflective mood, they report:

"I just miss -- I miss being anonymous," he said at the meeting in the White House State Dining Room. "I miss Saturday morning, rolling out of bed, not shaving, getting into my car with my girls, driving to the supermarket, squeezing the fruit, getting my car washed, taking walks. I can't take a walk."

He says he enjoys golf but is not the fanatic that some have portrayed him to be because of the frequency of his golf outings.

"It's the only excuse I have to get outside for four hours at a stretch," he told the Hearst executives.

His impossible dream: "I just want to go through Central Park (in New York) and watch folks passing by...Spend the whole day watching people. I miss that."

Read the full story at The Houston Chronicle.