Winter is back. Good. I like it cold. Since I haven’t walked since Thursday, I decide today to do a long destination walk. Soho.
It’s slightly over 5 miles from where I live. In Manhattan, it’s easy to calculate distance. Walking north to south, 20 blocks equals one mile. Walking east to west, 10 blocks is one mile. So today I walk 85 blocks south, and the equivalent of 17 blocks west, totaling 102 blocks. Divide that by 20 and I figure I walked 5.1 miles today.
Soho is a part of town I don’t get to as often as I once did, but it’s a part of town I love. It’s very hip, very downtown, and yes, just a bit trendy.
I soon find myself in a little design store called DWR (Design Within Reach) Tools for Living. Bad name for such a gem of a store. Even the $600 laundry bins and $300 wastebaskets are beautiful. I am approached by a very friendly thirty-something guy who offers to help. He is not at all aloof. I am taken in by his sincerity. Together we browse the two levels of the store.
He tells me that every day, all the salespeople are asked to become experts on three items in the store. As he is telling me this, I can see two other salespeople exchanging notes on what each of them has listed. Apparently there can’t be any overlap. One employee has chosen the big baskets made from discarded rubber tires (really quite extraordinary), the stunning illuminated planters, and he is searching for a third. My salesperson has chosen, among his three, mustard. Or more specifically, Moutarde de Meaux, which comes packaged in a functional ceramic crock jar. This is what I end up buying (after sampling it, of course), and learning that the kings of France have eaten this mustard since 1632. My salesman tells me this (and, it’s on the packaging).
I leave the store happy with the knowledge that I’ll be adding some life to my bland Arnold sandwich thins and turkey lunches.
I’d say it was worth the 5-mile walk.
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