It's Puzzling

A 2000 piece puzzle and the big blocks of color are completed, leaving about 500 pieces that are all nuanced shades of grey, blue and green.  This is when the amateurs walk away from the table and I resign myself to finish the puzzle on my own. 

Any serious puzzler knows the logical steps:  perimeter, major colors, piece by piece sorting for the remainder of colors, then a second piece by piece sorting through what's left with even more stringent sorting criteria.  Every step results in piles, and every pile becomes more homogeneous until the final groupings are just shades of the last remaining color.

Even though the end seems to be the hardest part, by this time I'm so familiar with the boxtop picture, the colors, shapes, textures.... that I can basically reach in, pull out a piece and almost instantaneously know in what area it belongs.  I'm not sure if there's any better training in observation than this.  The concentration and skill required admittedly make me a bit arrogant, and I'll admit to feeling suspiciously wary of those flighty folks who can't sit still once the obvious pieces are settled in their place and things become more challenging.  I'll admit it:  I'm a bit of a puzzle snob.  The progress is slow but every time I walk by the table I stop and add a few pieces, and before long the gaps close in like slow forming ice in the wintertime.  I have the same feeling as when finishing a really good book -- I can't wait to be done but am saddened by the end of the journey at the same time.  

And finally there are random holes and 30 lonely pieces left and I'm ignoring everything but shapes.  This one has a big head and a downward right shoulder.  This is a four-legged; that has a shoulder and is right handed.  Occasionally there are more openings than pieces and I drop to the floor searching for what the cat might have knocked off the table these last few weeks.  Sometimes the last piece is hiding on a finished area of the puzzle itself, camouflaged by the shiny reflection and only found by running my hands over the surface, enjoying the contradictory smoothness and bumpiness under my fingers.  The last piece is deservedly placed with some fanfare, which in my house generally includes a long, slow arc with a fitting tune that ends in some kind of "Ta Dah!"  And another running of my hands over the glossy surface just to stretch out the sense of accomplishment.  Because it seems dismissive to immediately put them away, finished puzzles remain out for at least a day or two before I dismantle them, the perimeter first so they can be placed into a sealed bag on top of the rest of the pieces, a quick and easy start for the next time I pull out this particular box.  I know that some people view jigsaw puzzles as a waste of time, but for me they're a wonderful escape -- one of the few times my mind stops racing about all that needs to be done and I can lose track of To Do lists and the worries of the day.  So pull up a chair, Friend, and let's be puzzled together!