Passions. . . .

Yesterday, three boxes were at our doorstep when we got home from work. One was for me, two were for Bud. Mine, of course, was from Amazon - books! Oh, yes! I've already started Foxmask by Juliet Marillier, the second in her Wolfskin series. And on deck now I have another of Laura Childs' Tea Shop mysteries, The Jasmine Moon Murder; Jane Lindskold's Wolf's Blood, a Firekeeper book; and The Sparks Fly Upward, another of the Makepeace Burke books by Diana Norman (Ariana Franklin). Ooooo...I'm just itching to get at them all!

But I want to share about another passion - Bud's passion for collecting Occupied Japan figurines. That's what was in the other two boxes.

I've never been much of a collector - except for books, of course. I just can't seem to find anything I feel worth collecting. Oh, I take that back. I do have a collection of baskets. But they were collected with a purpose - filling in the space above the kitchen cabinets. Now, unless a basket reeeeally strikes me as something I just have to have, the collection is done. Complete. Finis.

But for Bud, it's really the process of collecting that is the passion, I think. Not that some the figurines aren't downright gorgeous and beautifully crafted - quite the contrary. Like the Jester here.
Bud lusted after this piece for many years. It is truly exquisite.

One of my favorites is The Recital. I love the delicacy of hands playing the instruments in this one. Lovely things. And I've gotten so that when we are out haunting the flea markets and antique shops I can hone in on what might be a piece of Occupied Japan porcelain. Bud can saunter through the aisles with an eagle eye for the stuff. Remarkable. It's like he has a specialized radar for it. Of course, he's been collecting it for some twenty-odd years now.

But I truly believe it is The Hunt for him. He spends much of his time on E-Bay now. Most of the truly good pieces can only be found there. When we are out hunting we can find smaller pieces, but we never see pieces such as these two now. E-Bay collectors have snatched them all up. It's rather sad.

But then, I wonder. Someday my passion for the feel, scent and delight in ownership of books may be passe. Kindle and its clones are fast making inroads and changing the face of publishing.

Both of our passions may become a lot more expensive in future and really....just not the same passionate feeling at all. *sigh*

Sad. Very sad.