As you can see, the forest floor has been overtaken by invasives. I fired up the game after midnight hoping to find Wisp for a quick mowing of the property, but I did not see him. Those weeds are going to stay there until I do, which may, I suppose, never happen.

Here's a couple villagers giving me the business for being away for so long. Amelia quoted my absence at 17 months. Billy was more concerned about me being up so late. It was fun seeing everyone again, hearing catchphrases I had nearly forgotten, even though the animals' scripts haven't improved one bit while I was away. "Want to know the secret to catching fish?" No, dude, I caught my last fish two years ago.

There was a letter from Aziz in my mailbox; I don't even remember seeing that guy in town. I think Ace just moved in... we had the "first conversation" speech so I know he is new. I had forgotten how terrible the camping games are... Hank here wanted me to guess which photograph (out of four) was his. Not fun.

This is why I love Animal Crossing. I have not touched the game since 2003, and yet they still went on with their fishing tournaments and posted the weekly winners on the town bulletin board. This screen shows one of the champs from the summer '04 tourney.

It was about this time that I remembered that Nook isn't open late at night, so I couldn't perform any trades anyway. I came back again at 9am sharp the next morning.

Here's me turning over the Basic Painting to Blathers. He is understandably thrilled... and then even more excited when he realizes that the entire Museum is now complete: all the fossils, all the fish, all the bugs, and now all the paintings. I expect a Museum Model in my mail tomorrow morning.

As thanks for Simon's Basic Painting, I sent him a Scary Painting, with more on the way.

I also found myself doing the usual old run around: dig up fossils, sell any found items, deposit the bells in the bank, scan for any expensive-looking bugs or shells. I may even have a return visit to the island sometime this week.

See, Animal Crossing DS is coming, and I'm starting to feel the familiar twinge for exploring and collecting in this confined little world. Plus I can't wait to see how Nintendo manages to un-confine it as it kicks off their big online strategy this fall.