Puzzle Ponderings

This winter I’ve spent many evenings by the fire working on jigsaw puzzles while Stephen reads aloud to me. Quiet, peaceful evenings, though the puzzle that I’ve spent most of the past three weeks struggling with has been extremely challenging. I’ve completed the beautiful birds, but the nearly uniform, light blue background has me nearly stumped. I got this puzzle from a friend who had gotten it from a thrift store, and she told me the two lower right corner edge pieces are missing, so even when I finish the puzzle, it won’t be complete.

I’ve never quit on a puzzle and I intend to continue with this one, but last night I decided I needed a break. I moved the bird puzzle to another room for now and set out a new puzzle on my card table by the fire.

This one is a wooden puzzle with intricately cut pieces, most somewhat typical jigsaw puzzle shapes, but also many delightful pieces that are themselves recognizable shapes– bear, fox, flower, cat, acorn, leaping rabbit, owl, squirrel, etc. It’s fun and fascinating to see how these whimsical pieces fit into the whole puzzle to complete the big picture.

I did this whole puzzle last night, working on it later than usual because it was so engaging and because I was eager to see the completed picture. It also was an encouraging ego boost after struggling for so long with the other puzzle. Perhaps because I worked on it late, or perhaps because I was especially drawn to the beautiful, vibrant colors and intriguing shapes, I dreamt about working on puzzles last night. And, in one of those strange dream twists of reality, I woke up from a dream in which I was a puzzle piece, looking to see where I fit into the picture. I wonder what the completed picture will look like…