It's a holiday tradition in my niece's home to work jigsaw puzzles during the holiday season. This year, there were two: the scene from Zion National Park seemed hard, but the family completed it (with limited help from me) fairly quickly.
I am not very good at these things, so I was amazed when my brother bought another puzzle: Springbok Flowers and Fruit, 1,500 pieces, measuring 28 3/4 by 36 inches, or so the box said. My first impression was "impossible," so of course I reacted by writing a poem, as follows:
About A Puzzle
Puzzle
Small-piece, jigsaw.
Colorful, challenging,
Time-consuming, far from easy.
Lovely picture on the box, but can we
Make it work, or will we lose our
Patience and our minds as
Valiantly we
Puzzle?
It wasn't finished until Christmas night at 12:30 (by which time I was long asleep), but I admired it the following morning. The number of hours this project took was astounding, but there's a competitive spirit alive and well in my extended family. So what if we had to eat Christmas dinner in the kitchen? The dining room table was puzzle land. I helped a bit, but very little.
The top photo (my own) shows the unfinished version; the lower photo (taken by my brother) shows the final product.
Congratulations, John, Scott, Cindy, and Lauren! More puzzles next year? Smaller, perhaps?
Copyright 2007 by Marlys Marshall Styne
I am not very good at these things, so I was amazed when my brother bought another puzzle: Springbok Flowers and Fruit, 1,500 pieces, measuring 28 3/4 by 36 inches, or so the box said. My first impression was "impossible," so of course I reacted by writing a poem, as follows:
About A Puzzle
Puzzle
Small-piece, jigsaw.
Colorful, challenging,
Time-consuming, far from easy.
Lovely picture on the box, but can we
Make it work, or will we lose our
Patience and our minds as
Valiantly we
Puzzle?
It wasn't finished until Christmas night at 12:30 (by which time I was long asleep), but I admired it the following morning. The number of hours this project took was astounding, but there's a competitive spirit alive and well in my extended family. So what if we had to eat Christmas dinner in the kitchen? The dining room table was puzzle land. I helped a bit, but very little.
The top photo (my own) shows the unfinished version; the lower photo (taken by my brother) shows the final product.
Congratulations, John, Scott, Cindy, and Lauren! More puzzles next year? Smaller, perhaps?
Copyright 2007 by Marlys Marshall Styne
4 comments:
Reading your piece brings back memories of my own for we always had puzzles on the coffee table year round. They drew visitors together and conversation ensued so that we spent many comfortable hours together. Thanks also for sharing the poem. I've been playing a bit with poetry again myself, and posted one on Christmas Day at my Sacred Ruminations blog. This morning I put a "memory piece" of my own there ... though it had nothing to do with the holidays.
I hope you enjoyed your holiday celebrations with family. May 2008 be filled with peace, wonder, joy and gratitude.
Hugs and blessings,
Thank you. Yes, I enjoyed my visit in Houston.
My best wishes to you for 2008!
I'm glad you visited and I have enjoyed reading you today! I can picture you in your Red Mini because your blog page indicates a fun outlook and Mini owners I 've found are a fun lot.
Congrats on your writing awards. You are certainly visually creative with this puzzle post today.
New Years Cheers!
Thanks, MotherPie. Yes, we red Mini drivers are a jaunty lot. I've driven a series of red cars, including three 3-series BMWs, and to me, that's the only color for a car. However, I don't really need a car any more, and may give up my Mini when I move to a lifetime care residence in a year or so. It's even closer the Chicago's loop, and I'm already close.
Best wishes for a Happy 2008!
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