Summer is gone very fast. The weather has cooled and Homecoming Day is only one day from now. The rainy days have ended and the blue sky days have arrived. I am making plans for Christmas but thought a recap of summer was in order.

The trip to Prague went without any real missteps or successes. Once again, I missed doing the things I had planned to do. Prague was not as friendly a city as some. People would get a ‘look who’s just walked in the door’ expression when I would come in. I did just through dumb luck chance upon a hobby store. It was a disappointment. A lot of Airfix and Revell plastic kits and not too much else though there were some nice vehicles for model railroads. In my finest Czech, I asked how much they cost. With a withering look, the man behind the counter handed me a card, told me that there was a website listed on the card, and I could look up the price there. I retreated quietly from the store.

Not much else happened in Prague. There were hordes of tourists where one expected hordes of tourists. The only time the Czech language was useful was once when I tried to get a small plate for my daughter and the waiter thought I was asking for a side dish. The Vyzerahd Citadel was a pleasant walk and Andel was an interesting area. My daughter was delighted with the Kingdom of the Railways and had to be dragged away. Beer was plentiful, food was hit and miss. The trams were fun to ride on and I had my one moment as an experienced tourist instructing a British woman to board the No. 22 tram on the other side of the street to reach Prague Castle.

Back home, I weathered a hurricane. The storm was expected to peak at 2 in the morning but when 2 AM arrived, the rain and wind lightened and the frogs in the backyard started singing and the hurricane was past. Nothing was broken or pushed over and nothing flooded. The toddler slept through it all.

I have stacked as many rule books as I could find on a bookshelf. I am furiously trying to paint all the plastic Perry miniatures that have been piling up and am within sight of success. I painted enough Assyrians to start looking for some matte board to mount them on. I also have more 10mm Saxons than I know what to do with.

It was a forgettable summer in some ways. At least, I have a moment to write about it.

Looks like the annual summer conference season is upon us so it is off to Europe for a bit. Perhaps I will have the opportunity to bring back some amazing photos or perhaps some mediocre ones. I suspect with a toddler and mother-in-law on hand, there will be less footloose wandering than in previous times.

I seem to find myself involved in discussions that seem more and more pointless, meeting people that do not interest me, and finding myself in less and less attractive situations.  I comfort myself with the belief that such things are cyclic but find myself wondering if I am caught in a broader cycle that is tending in a negative direction.

I am clearing out trash in the apartment.  It is amazing how many worthless bits of nothing gather together and conspire to have themselves placed in a box with more or less worthless bits of nothing and then travel with me from place to place.  Perhaps that is the essence of collecting.

I have noticed that if I paint figures an hour or two each night (an impossibility given my current situation), I would likely get everything nicely painted in a couple of months.  I have noticed that it is nicer to look at photos of current work than older.  I suppose I will see where things stand in a couple of months if I am still here to check.