Baby time is over and it is back to work. My wife saw a small box of Charles Stadden figures in the bathroom and asked me when I would stop buying figures. I suppose the real answer would be when I lose my memory of what has made my life a pleasure. I think we wait for big pleasures that often elude us and ignore the small ones that seem not to matter. Toy soldiers are not a talent like playing the piano or trading successfully on the stock market or like having a beautiful spouse or a large home or climbing the Matterhorn. My value in the eyes of others does not increase because I have a collection of Charles Stadden figures or Archive miniatures.

But I enjoy seeing them and though they are certainly not the only pleasure in my life, they are one that has never disappointed as my demands on them were so limited to begin with. So, no, I will not be giving up toy soldiers any time soon. I have given things up or lost them through the indifference of others over the years. The soldiers are staying.

More to the point, I fly back to work on Sunday. I wonder if anything I own in that small apartment is still there. If so, I will have much more to add to these pages. But I will be back at work.