I like jigsaw puzzles.

I don’t do them all the time, but in the summer I often like to do a puzzle.

I prefer ones that feature a photo, rather than a painting. I don’t like teeny tiny pieces, and frankly I don’t like too many pieces either. Five hundred seems to be the right number for me.

I spend a couple of evenings on it, at the dining room table. There’s a certain satisfaction in snapping together the pieces after searching for them in the pile.

I also like that they make me slow down and notice details that I might not have otherwise.

I found a jigsaw puzzle at a massive discount store last week. It was on sale. It was a folk art painting of old time Boston. I liked it well enough (there were no photo puzzles available) so I bought it. I started it that evening and finished it the next day. I wanted more.

My travels took me to the dollar store for writing camp materials. While I was there I picked up another puzzle. This one featured a photo of a strawberry pie. The size of the pieces was good. It was only three hundred pieces, but hey, it was a dollar, so I bought it.

Well, it took three days, but I finished it. Here’s what I learned:

1. the picture on the box had different coloration than the actual puzzle
2. the cover of the box didn’t show the whole puzzle
3. the pieces were printed on very thin cardboard
4. many of the pieces fit in places where they don’t belong
5. the whole thing was sort of warped and didn’t want to lay flat

Still, I finished it, and I’m satisfied with the result. Now I want to do another one, but I’m going to steer clear of the dollar store.