In Renfrew Saturday to do a little shopping, and we finally had a look inside Rick’s Hobbies and Aquaria, which we’d been eyeing every time we went over to do our banking (unfortunately, the nearest Scotiabank for Jen and Bank of Montreal for me are in Renfrew).

It turned out to be better than we had hoped: a store that was dedicated purely to the proprietor’s hobbies — just the sort of store one dreams of doing. And, like someone I know very well, there are a lot of hobbies on display: aquaria, birds, reptiles (lizards only, alas, because of freakouts in-store), model cars and rockets, strategy games and — of course — model railroading.

Now I grew up with a model train layout in the basement — my father’s in the midst of building his fourth (I think) layout at the moment — so I’m by no means unfamiliar. And damned if I don’t have enough hobbies on the go or on semi-hiatus at the moment — not that I lack the time right now — but, so help me, I actually started thinking about it.

Oh, shit. I know where that’s going to lead.

Fortunately for all concerned, I have no room — and a model train layout would be well down the list of priorities, after the piano, a space for Jen’s artwork, etc., etc. Still. Can’t help but think that a layout based on Japan, or South America, for a change, would make for an interesting research project …