When I was a little kid in the 1960s growing up in the San Fernando Valley north of L.A., my dad loaded up the family in the station wagon and took us out to Topanga Mall in Woodland Hills. We'd never seen anything like it. It was a wonderland! The centrepiece was a huge two-story tall water sculpture that had drops glittering like diamonds running down wires twisted in a big spiral. I think it may have been the first mall in the Valley. As time went on, malls became ubiquitous, and now they are disappearing. As am I, I suppose...