Wednesday, June 29, 2011

NYR 6-25-11 - it's the small things

We have an amazing pepper grinder that we got for a wedding present 13+ years ago from a Georgetown friend of Jimmy's (I think/hope memory's serving me correctly on who it came from in case I'm wrong and the giver is reading this). The grinder was from Williams-Sonoma or Crate or Barrel or some other store like that that had not yet made it to South Carolina (at that point). It was pretty much perfection and I remember thinking that it was one of the nicest things I'd ever gotten.

Fast-forward 13+ years and the pepper grinder lives on. It is used at least once a day if not more and it still works perfectly. And it's still as beautiful today as it was then. Form + Function = BIG WINNER.

So I thought the pepper grinder needed a mate and some years ago I bought a salt grinder. Where I bought it, I don't remember. Except that it wasn't a high-quality place like the grinder came from. I did buy a wooden one to match the pepper grinder. They were like the Mr. and Mrs. of my kitchen counter.

Except the Mrs. died in the last few months. No matter how full of salt she is and no matter how tight you have her head screwed on, when you turn the grinder, nothing comes out.

Today I bought a new salt grinder with a gift certificate I received for my birthday from a local store here in Bogota. I've been thinking about what to buy/what I need for the last couple months and this morning it came to me in a flash of inspiration.

The new Mrs. sort of feels like a trophy wife for the Mr. They didn't have wooden ones at the store, so the new Mrs. is a sleek glass and stainless steel number. She would make the first Mrs. feel sort of frumpy and dumpy in her modest wooden shell that covers her innards.

I couldn't bring myself to throw the old one away yet, even though she absolutely does not work and never will again. I put her in the pantry next to the honey where maybe she'll find happiness as somebody's else's Mrs.

For a new salt grinder that actually works, I am truly thankful!!

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