995 pieces

You start with 1000 pieces. All looking more or less the same – a wild hodge podge of splogy colour. A bewildering mess.

(note the author's foot in the corner)

Then the sorting begins. Turn them all over. Start putting the ones with edges on one side. Put the brightly-coloured red ones in another corner. Separate the browns and tans – from the whites – and the other darker shades. Nevermind about the fine nuances - that can be done later. Broad strokes.

Once the first sorting is over – the fun begins. The first pieces are brought together. Soon some start fitting. A line – one of the borders of the puzzle appears. Some of the reds fit together to form the riders. Another line. A corner melds the two together.

(you can click on the pictures for larger views)

What is it about jigsaw puzzles that feeds a small but real primal urge (in this 'umble fellow at least) ?

I think that part of it is the need to fit. The joy of knowing that this piece was made for this part – and the small and repeated thrill of seeing something fit together. A piece is held - you scan the others for possible fits. You try it out - no. Not here. Turn round. Still no. Move on. Ah - there it goes.

And then to the next little challenge. And the next.

As soon as a piece ‘fits’ it seems to lose its own identity. The awkwardness and solitude – it is now part of an image – it doesn’t just cling to other pieces as some kind of vagrant child – rather it forms a seamless whole…

And all along there is a drive - to complete - to make that elusive 'big picture'. The details are slow in coming. You have to be called 2-3 times for meals. In the morning your hands feel itchy, ready to get at the puzzle again. Time blurs.

At the end there were 995 pieces that fit together. Of the 1000 that were said to be there on the box - the last 5 have been lost somewhere in the making and remaking of this picture.

Life - at least in the current edition - is like that. For all its fearful symetry, there are still some some jagged edges. But we press on...