The Mall

       We went to the mall yesterday.  A shame that the Memorial Day Holiday in honor of those who gave their lives for their country is mainly a shopping day to too many of us.   Very sad the losses of men and women in the prime of blooming man-and-womanhood.

       Yes, as noted last year on this day, the above thoughts are the reason for Connie's coinage:  it should really be called meMALLial Day.

       But what does "mall" come from?  Source is the Mall in London's St. James' Park, a sheltered promenade, which had originally been used for the game of Pall Mall ("ball" "mallet") a wooden ball  hit down an alley and through a ring.   Later of course a pedestrian walkway with shops, businesses, restaurants, on either side of it:  the Mall.