Jigsaw puzzles ... yes, really!

Recently I got back into making jigsaw puzzles ("legpuzzel" in Dutch. A jigsaw is a "figuurzaag"). Ok ... I see your eyes rolling but just continue reading and you'll remember ... those puzzles you made when you were young. I used to make puzzles at my grand-parents' house. Sometimes when we would visit them there would be one lying on the table, needing more input from us, children. How many of you don't recognize this!

How did I get back to jigsaw puzzles? I read an article which stated that jigsaw puzzles were really good for training your right brain side (as I am left-handed, I thought additional training of my right brain side would not hurt me :-) On the one hand you have to memorize the picture, on the other hand you have to imagine through shape, color or otherwise, the next piece that you want to make fit. 

Now, I am not a games person. Somehow I don't like the "competition with others" part (maybe I just don't like to lose ...). The nice thing about puzzles is though that you are competing with yourself (to complete the puzzle) and that you can actually make it a shared activity.

So far I have worked on two puzzles. The first one, a bouquet of flowers scared the hell out of me ("only" 1000 pieces) as my right brain part was clearly not used to imagine too much anymore ... the nice thing was, as it was lying on my huge dining table, that whenever someone would visit, be it friends or family, they would turn to the table and start picking up pieces and help to complete the puzzle.

The second puzzle I did not do too much. I had a friend over from Italy recently and when I proposed movie or puzzle, she went for the puzzle (a row of houses along an Amsterdam canal). While I did help to lay the border, she almost completely finished it until she hit the blue sky which she preferred not to work on. So my sister and I completed that part.

Jigsaw puzzles are seriously addictive and you can totally forget whatever happens around you (not a bad thing from time to time). In that sense, it is like running, except that, unlike puzzles where I always think: "ok, one more piece and then I'll quit" - without really quitting - I actually do quit the moment I reach the mileage I need to run! As for the promised imagination and memory enhancements, my memory is still problematic ... my imagination however ... more about that another time.

So, who can I challenge to start a jigsaw puzzle this year? In any case, if you somehow end up visiting me this year or dropping by, there will be either one on the table or one that calls out to you to be started. Oh wait, you actually want to know what I am working on right now ... ? I just started one with a picture of where I hope to return for a one week vacation this summer ... il Lago di Garda in bella Italia!

Have a great week!
Rose