Hard Things

Paul found this puzzle piece on the bike path along the water.  How does a single puzzle piece end up in an unusual place like that?

I chuckle every time I write about my puzzles. Is anyone really interested?  Maybe another puzzle lover.....but seriously. But I find joy in my puzzles....and sometimes they teach me something. So here I go.....more life lessons from a puzzle.

I've thought of the line "you can do hard things" over and over as I worked on my latest puzzle.  I haven't written about this one...mostly because I kept thinking I was just going to give up.....put it away.....and pass it on to someone with more patience than me. 

But I sat down every day....even just for a few minutes and plugged away.

This gorgeous puzzle came from my nephew Langston (North) and was actually earmarked as a gift for his grandma...Margie.  But it's too long for her board at 39 inches by 14.  So I thought I would do it first...split it in half...and she could have two 500 piece puzzles. 

I felt like I'd been working on it for months.  I lost track of time...but I looked back at my photos....and found that I started it on May 1st. That's not so bad.  Some days I would find only a piece or two.  Other days I would resort the pieces and come up with new strategies...looking for subtle textures and color variations.  The red end was hard. Then the orange, yellow, and lime green were a breeze. I've got this....I thought.

The middle greens were harder than the reds so I moved over to the purple end.  That was hard too.  But I kept picking away at it.  Langston was on my mind the whole time. He chose this beautiful rainbow puzzle.  He knew his grandmother and I loved puzzles...and the rainbow has such wonderful symbolism. And the rich colors and textures of the flowers and foliage were irresistible.

Some of you may be thinking it's just a puzzle....get a grip. But this puzzle had become a mission. Langston has tackled a lot of hard things in his life....and I wanted to honor his gift. I needed to finish it. 

Just a few days ago I had just these two chunks of green left.  They both were ferns...and all the pieces looked exactly the same. But I knew I couldn't give up....the end was finally within reach.

I took this photo...and had to stand on a stool to get the whole thing.

Then for some reason I took this photo with the box on top. It occurred to me that although it didn't really matter...I had been working on it upside down from how the puzzle maker...or the photographer intended. (all based on the positioning of that sticker on the box.)  It does make sense that the reds would be on the left.  We read from left to right....and the rainbow spectrum starts with red.

So I took everything else off the table....it needed a good dusting anyway.  I carefully disconnected the puzzle in middle so I could slide the chunks around on the table and turn it around.  At first I was disoriented....I had been looking at it the other way for SOOO long.  But this new orientation gave me a new perspective...and I had it finished by the end of the day.  

I can do hard things.  Sometimes I need to plug away at something a little every day....and sometimes I have to to shake things up and literally turn something upside down to make it to the finish line. 

It's all yours Margie....if you want to tackle it. I actually put it away in thirds...so now there are three 333 piece puzzles.