After a long day at work, after dinner is cooked and the dishes are done, Domenic and I have been turning to this nostalgic activity to relax: puzzles.
We started the pastime on New Year's Day 2018, when it was freezing in Michigan and we were both wiped from weeks of holiday festivities. We wanted something to do, so I suggested we go to Target and get a puzzle. Neither of us had put one together in years, but it seemed like a nice thing to do on a 20 degree day with little movement attached (the night before was a late one).
We settled on a 1,000 piece puzzle picturing a tiny, white lake house, a sunset over water, and a 1950's maroon Volkswagen on a cobblestone driveway.
We camped out at the dining room table all night, forming a strategy to tackle it. We sorted, divided and conquered until our eyes were weak, vowing to finish the next day, and we did.
After that, we were hooked. The next puzzle was a 20th century newsstand with iconic covers from pop culture throughout the years – Marilyn Monroe on the cover of Hollywood, Elizabeth Taylor on the front of Modern Screen. Charlie Chaplin, Andy Warhol, Princess Di and a New Yorker from 1925 (when it was 15 cents!). Both came with us in the move, and are now framed and mounted in our new place.
Since living in Chicago, we’ve done a few more, and I’ll have to admit, my participation has majorly lacked on a couple of them.
But it’s still something we can turn to as an alternative to movies or computing at night, and it’s a great “stay in” activity when we want a night in on a weekend.
Over puzzles, we planned our leap to Chicago, talked about finding jobs, learned more about each other’s family, told stories of our childhood, and got comfortable with silence as we diligently worked.
Puzzles have brought us closer, and they're something I recommend if you’re looking for something new to relieve stress, have Netflix alternative or something to do with a partner.