Thank you. If this weren't the 50+ forum, I'd guess we should belong to one.
I Googled and found an ankle-pain flowchart of questions with yes/no answers that led straight to osteoarthritis.
It wouldn't surprise me - I know I have osteoarthritis in the big toe joint of both feet, and my ankles often "pop" loudly when I bend them while at rest.... so much so that it has startled Hubby when he hears it.
I am going to pay a lot more attention to how often my ankles hurt and where the pain seems to present itself in the ankle. When I bought my new running shoes at the local running store, I was given business cards for three different podiatrists in my area. One of them is for a foot and ankle specialist. I will not give up walking and I will not take anti-inflammatory medication for more than a couple of weeks, so it will be interesting to see what my other options are.