More Consumerism

Some friends gave me a gift card from Smith & Hawken and it’s been burning a hole in my wallet for quite a while, mainly because their retail store is not all that convenient for me. Since it looks like we may have actually gotten past the pall of winter and the rains of April, I decided to make the trek into Manhattan and check out what’s what. In this day and age of volume-sales in mega-stores like Home Depot and Loews, S&H is a tad upscale for being just a gardening center but they do tend to carry only the best of the best in supplies thereof and, like my comment on BB&B below, presentation is half the battle. The place is pleasing to the eye and a good stroll even if you don’t have a gift card or a whole lot of cash in your wallet.

The coup of this shopping trip is my new, and I think very nifty, rake. The handle adjusts from 35” to 57” and, at the same time, spreads the tines from 7” to 22” wide and, I thought, fairly cheap and on sale at a “promotional price.” The balance of my gift card went for a new hose nozzle (4-way) and some large, handsome hooks from which to hang plants on the back porch. A “roll” of aromatic (rose) sachet wiped out the card with only a small additional cash outlay. I hadn’t been on West Broadway in quite some time so the street itself was a pleasant stroll, with a lot of notable changes, even though the handle of my new rake seemed to snag on every passing hem and pant leg I encountered. Oh well, if you don’t get angry looks on the streets of Manhattan you haven’t really completed your designated mission; but I nonetheless tender my apologies to one and all.