“I’m like this.  I’m not like that.” 

Maybe.

I was probably a teen the last time I did a jigsaw puzzle.  In recent times it was “Why would I waste my time doing that?  So boring.”

About a month ago, I saw an advertisement on the Internet that stopped my brain.  Wooden jigsaw puzzles of animals … and they glowed.  Such glory.

All thoughts of “boring” drifted away, replaced by “beauty”.  On the spot I bought an elephant, a fox, a cat and a sea turtle.  No thought … just magnetism.

The puzzles arrived last week, and there they sat in their lovely blue boxes, unopened.

Yesterday was the beginning – maybe a hundred tiny shapes (each one in an aquatic theme) were spread across my table.  My sea turtle.  “I’m actually doing this!”

My skills were low, as was my ability to find distinctions between one piece and the next.  But so what?  “I’m a re-newbie.”

And then the moment: the first two pieces found each other like lovers … perfectly joined.  My heart soared.

My strategies improved.  Look at the accompanying photo and see the little lines and subtleties of colour.  Find pieces that are smoothly curved on one side > they’re probably on the edge of the design.  Really see the shapes of bumps and holes and find their partners.

“I see the head!”  Oh, joy.  I was in the middle of creation.  Something grand was becoming and eventually would be.

How long did it take for the entire turtle to be revealed, you ask?  Four hours.  Fatigue growing, hunger ignoring – I was on a mission of emergence.  I was Michelangelo facing a huge lump of clay and seeing David inside.  Oh, bliss!

There was one piece that thrilled and scared me – Neptune’s pitchfork.  There’s no doubt a better word but I don’t what it is.  “How can I find Neptune’s home?” I sighed.  But in time all was revealed.  My fingers finally knew what to do.

***

And at the end of it all …

Voilà!

I also bought a mounting kit so my new friend will grace one of my walls

Welcome home, dear turtle