Blogging is easy when you are in wifi and have the time; it is hard otherwise. Africa doesn’t lend itself well to blogging as, so often, one is out of internet reach. So much the better, as one can find the time and quiet space to read.
I have just returned from Kenya – another gratifying, deeply fulfilling link in a chain of life experiences there. Part of the pleasure comes from the need to unplug. I carried books with me, not tablets, and had a gorgeous time reading. Two of the books I would like to pass on, and each is completely different from the other.
Life is Meals, by Kay and James Salter (he is a wonderful writer whose other works are required reading), is about the joy of food and the sharing of meals. It is anecdotal, historically fascinating, recipe rich and inspiring. I am determined to find a balance in my life, reintroducing the breaking of bread with friends – humbly, deliciously, formally and informally – creating dinners and lunches of carefully thought-out, creative, locally grown menus to share with a sympathetic, interesting, diverse guest list.
The other book is Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures) True Stories From a War Zone, by three authors who are all colleagues and friends – Cain, Postlewait and Thomson – that takes you, with huge honesty, into the lives of the three UN workers in the most harrowing parts of the world. How far away are the wines and delicious dinners of the Salters’ as described in Life is Meals!
I am always struck by how we, as travellers, are able to segue with ease between culture. Within 24 hours we move from the bush to New York City..cheetah atop a termite mound to jack russel in Central Park, matatu to big apple cab… with such ease. The pleasures and the pains so beautifully explicated in the above books speak to the same dichotomy we hold within ourselves.
We must not apologize for, but recognize, the dark and the light, the pain and the pleasure. We must accept our multiselves. It takes travel, often, to bring the two into close proximity, into a shared focus.
I believe it is important.
John Derian is a treasure. It's not that there aren't many with talent and vision because there are, the world over. But Derian has other attributes that make him so beloved. His eye is unerring, his sense of scale is perfect, he layers cultures and eras seamlessly in a room. And he is accessible in brick and mortar. His two shops on East Second Street have been haunts for years. One carries the decoupage he designs and constructs locally (and that make the best gifts ever) along with the coveted ceramics of Astier de Villatte. The second Dry Goods store next door showcases quirky antiques, an assortment of vintage furniture, stacks of heavy french linen, Moroccan rugs and soft cotton Indian clothing. Both are small, but intriguing and interesting enough to seduce you on a journey of the senses.
And now, Derian has opened on Christopher Street in a double-windowed storefront of a two-story 18th century house. It's like walking in to another world. Traditional Astier, and the later Derian/Astier collaborative pieces, line the walls from roof to floor of the front room. The back room, wallpapered in his new cabbage rose design and lit by beautiful Balthus-designed standing lamps with parchment shades, offers a living room in which to settle in, thumb through books and albums, and rest the soul.
So, go to shop, or simply go to travel in spirit to another place and time.
https://www.johnderian.com/pages/our-locations"
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