I haven't written about puzzles in a while....but there's always one on my table. At this point in my life....I can't imagine not having one going.
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| A couple of Paul's found objects. |
I've been enjoying revisiting some of the puzzles in my stash....but I did purchase a few new ones late summer. The first one I worked on for a couple weeks....and decided I wasn't having fun. It was colorful and beautiful....but I just couldn't come up with a strategy that tapped into the joy. So I boxed it back up and will pass it along to someone who appreciates a challenge.
When I opened the second new one....I thought oh no....this one is going to be challenging too. It's slow going...but I'm finding quite a bit of joy in this one.
The whimsical little scenes with their quirky characters are just a delight.
It was a little challenging at first...but once I started connecting patterns and blocks of the bright colors...it started to come together and the charming little characters started to emerge.
This was a fun one I borrowed from Margie earlier this summer.
My favorite bit from this post: your boxing up the puzzle with which you couldn't find a strategy to tap into joy, with a clear plan to pass the puzzle along to someone for whom joy will be accessible. I so appreciate your modeling of gracious acceptance of the need to let go and move on in response to one's inner knowing. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHa ha...Yes! It was hard at first to "give up"....but once I moved on it felt wonderful and liberating. Oh....the lessons I learn from my puzzles.
DeleteMaryAnn, this is Ann. I loved this post! I almost texted you over the summer to ask your permission to stop working on a puzzle that was annoying me because it’s so difficult! It’s a wonderful puzzle I have in Maine, and I’ve been working on it for several years! To be fair, I only look at it for a few minutes every couple of days each summer because usually I’d rather sit on my porch!
ReplyDeleteIt’s a lovely picture of six puffins all lined up in front of the ocean, standing on some rocks with tons of grasses around. Their faces are almost identical, as are their bodies. Five are looking to the left, one to the right. The differences are so subtle that it’s extraordinarily difficult for me to know which eye or beak goes with which head! And the grasses offer me no pattern or sequence to follow.
I almost gave up, but then I turned it around and started working just on the ocean, using the shapes of the pieces to guide me, and made a lot of progress.
So I covered it up last week before we came home, and will get back to it next year!
Hi Ann....your comment is making me chuckle. If you would have consulted me on the puzzle...I would have advised you to let it go. But now that you've committed to it....I'm going to cheer you on and say way to go! You got this! We CAN do hard things....it's just picking and choosing which ones deserve our time and attention. And if we have the luxury of having a choice...there should be at least a little joy. It sounds like you've finally found that in the puffins.
DeleteThat puzzle looks like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteA couple of weeks ago, someone on my neighborhood buy-nothing group was offering up puzzles that their family had worked on over the pandemic. I waited a day and reached out, asking if there were any left could I come and get one or two. She had someone come by that morning and someone was coming by in the early evening. She would give me a shout if any were left. Well, there were some. She and I agreed that I should take all that were left and move the ones I did not want 'along the food chain' of puzzlers. Well! There were not one or two or five. There were EIGHTEEN. hahaha. I am now parceling out the ones I know we won't do and have a few set aside for the library that my sister-in-law works for. But we have a couple identified for taking on our next beach vacation for the inevitable rainy day. :-D
Oh how I love this story Elle! Sharing puzzles....is what puzzlers do. How fun to have 18 new puzzles to play with or share! Joy!
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