It’s 5 or so in the morning right now, and Alex has gotten me up with the sound of soft clattering in the living room. He’s digging through a box of plastic animals. Sometimes he wants to set them all up in rows, but often he just wants to dump them out on the floor to know they’re there. It works out good for me, too, as nothing wakes you up like driving the snout of a hard plastic big into the bottom of your foot at 5 in the morning.

Three lions ranging in length from two inches to six; …read more