It's part of a writer's profession as it's part of a spy's profession to prey on the community to which he's attached to take away information - often in secret - and to translate that into intelligence for his masters whether it's his readership or his spy masters. And I think that both professions are perhaps rather lonely.
I can spend hours in a grocery store. I get so excited when I see food I go crazy. I spend hours arranging my baskets so that everything fits in and nothing gets squashed. I'm really anal about it actually.
Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art.