The Puzzle

I am not always good at solving puzzles. I don’t “do” puzzles for fun. A sewing pattern or quilting directions are puzzle enough for me. If I buy box furniture that has to be assembled, I call my sister. She has a better spatial sense and reads directions better.

It all together and in place.

My sister thought it was fun to put it together

My son, “Tech Support” was here for 10 days to attend a couple of graduation parties and to deal with what was left behind last winter that was too heavy for his rental truck before the management decided to write a complaint. The have been across the street every day since my neighbors back yard started disappearing down the creek. That means they are looking down my driveway. So far they have been distracted.

We started that weekend with a community wide yard sale. Last year on this weekend it was 100 degrees and nothing sold. This year it was 60 and raining. I managed to sell my dining room table and chairs. None of his stuff sold so it all had to be moved.

It was too big and heavy-looking so it finally sold to a neighbor.

My son has excellent skills with puzzles and they were seriously tested this week. They didn’t test him, they tested my ability to watch him put this puzzle together with confidence. I didn’t get nearly enough photos of the progress. To save money on fuel, my son drove his small car instead of a friend’s bigger pick-up truck from his home in Arizona. It doesn’t tow much weight and he had a lot of heavy steel to tow. Rental trailers were heavy and expensive.

He actually reads and understands the directions!

So then comes the brilliant idea to buy a trailer. I suggested we take my Suburban to fit the box in the back with more ease. Tech Supports eyes got big. “I thought they came all put together.” When I expressed doubt, he made a phone call. Sure enough, it came in a box to be put together at home. He had one day to put it together and one day to get it loaded before his long drive back. Tools had to be purchased and of course there were hitches that didn’t quite fit, lights that were broken and wiring that needed to be done. When I needed a trailer, I rented one, let them hook it to my hitch and drive away.

His sister is pretty good with puzzles too but mostly offered moral support and maybe a hand once in a while.

I was greatly surprised at the lack of blue words coming off the driveway as this puzzle was systematically put together. Many trips were made for replacement parts and other tools. I’m an old woman. I have very few tools here. The extent of my help was to hold onto things, hand others and feed the machine that figured everything out. I must admit, I shook my head a lot thinking this tiny trailer was never going to hold all that weight.

We started with it upside down, added wheels then flipped it over.

Can I tell you how impressed I was that Tech Support got this puzzle solved and everything loaded by 10 p.m. his last night here? We were up very early to load up clean laundry and snacks along with other miscellaneous items that had been previously left behind. I fully expected a call if he got as far as the top of our hill saying that the tires had popped. Instead there were the calls to report that he was sitting in standstill traffic and finally the one I most wanted. He had made his two day driving destination into California to attend the memorial service for his step-father. He won’t be alone on the last leg of his trip to Arizona so I can retire my worry beads and get some much needed rest.

Nothing moved as it was all quite heavy. He had the car packed heavy too.

It was cold and wet in Oregon, baking hot in California

How are you at following the directions that come with products? Are you a fan of puzzles?

“Sometimes the hardest pieces of a puzzle to assemble, are the ones missing from the box.”~ Dixie Waters

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself