Some months are for doing large and expansive things--like traveling, walking on the beach, and taking in large landscapes. March has been my jigsaw puzzle month.
Today I completed the third one in a week--all but a couple of dozen pieces I'm waiting to click in when the sun is up and I can see it in natural light. Sunday's puzzle is a grid of squares of old cars, six squares across, eight squares up and down. Each VW bug, Mini Cooper and Fiat is brightly colored, but you don't pick up on the subtle differences between two reds, two yellows, two greens, until you sit with it for a day. Each car is parked in front of a building with various signs and trees and plants.
I love jigsaw puzzles when I'm figuring out what to do next. Today, I've needed mostly silence and space and a puzzle of cars was perfect for my Sunday mood. First, I do the border--which is sort of like the border of a life--what it can contain and where the edges are.
Then I focus on parts--the signs are most fun because of the lettering. Slowly the cars emerge, all little cars of every color in my Crayola palette. They remind me of my Mini Cooper trips, of cars in car shows, and cars I grew up in, always riding around, looking, looking at the world through car windows and rear view mirrors.
The most challenging parts are the places where the pieces connect, just like in real life. What goes next to what? How does one thing or person relate to all other pieces and people? There's real pleasure in hearing the click: this all fits together into one big picture.
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