i finally tiptoed my way back  into doing jigsaw puzzles at home

with a planned delay after having pete the cat come to live with me

he’s a rowdy teenaged cat who loves to jump and play

i started out by trying a 100 piece puzzle sent by my friend

i could work quickly and cover it if needed

that went pretty well

he jumped up on the table 

laid down on it and grabbed a piece but put it back when i ‘suggested it’

this was the gateway opening wide for me

i knew a 1,000 piece puzzle

would take up too much space and time

so i went for a 500 piece

quietly got it out

sorted, made the frame

he jumped up to check it out

 suddenly i had an idea

he loves to play, especially laser chase games

i love to solve puzzles, especially jigsaw and crosswords

so i armed myself with a laser pointer in my left hand 

while i worked on the puzzle with my right hand

each time he jumped up

i aimed that pointer across the room and he took off running 

i had a couple of minutes to work on the puzzle again

then he would jump  back up and we did this all over again

i assumed he’d tire after 5 or 6 jumps

but no

pete the cat had energy to burn

 we must have repeated this close to 20 times

finally i finished by puzzle

 he went to take a nap 

a win for both of us

 while my team may have come in very last

in our recent jigsaw puzzle competition

i have taken it to a new challenge level

two-fisted gaming 

‘jig-laser-tag-puzzling.’

—

“let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.”

—j. jackson brown, jr.

 

.