Bits and Puzzle Pieces

It’s bits and pieces time again.

Yesterday, Easter Sunday, was an absolutely beautiful day. The joy of the day was enhanced many times over through a large family gathering, phone calls to and from relatives, and the making of lots of new memories. Cameras were recording the day in pictures that will be looked at and talked about over and over in years to come.

Because of the number of people attending the family dinner, it was held in the basement of Queen of Angels Church in Nashua. As the food was being set out, I watched people visiting and children full of energy chasing each other and laughing. Several of them were fascinated by the black phone on one of the posts in the basement. Of course, they had to try out using the dial on the phone. Good thing the phone was out of service.

Later on, the adults called out to the children hunting for the treats the Easter Bunny had left, saying things like, “No! To your left! To your left!” “How many eggs did you find?” “Did you find candy?!”

As they did so, I could see in my mind gatherings from past years of family and friends at this little country church and hear their laughter and joy.

The day ended with goodbyes filled with hugs and saying how good the day had been and how wonderful it was to see everyone again.

Recently, I played in a card tournament. It had been a long time since I’d been in one but I decided it would be fun to do so again.

Throughout the afternoon you could hear people at the other tables discussing a hand just played -- how if this card or that card had been played the hand would have turned out much differently.

In the lulls that fell between people moving from one table to another, I thought of how many hours had been spent by people playing cards, not just in tournaments, but in homes as well. For many years, there were card parties held in homes. They were fun times filled with joking, laughter, and good natured teasing. All through the evening, there was always an array of food to sample. But now you hardly ever hear of evenings like that.

All the while our children were growing up, playing cards with friends was our entertainment. Now I wonder if this simple form of camaraderie is slowly fading away.

For the past several years, my husband and I have traveled to Arizona to spend time with his brother who lives in Sun City during the winter. Part of our activities there include putting together jigsaw puzzles.

So this year, when we returned from Arizona, we purchased a new card table then went to a second hand store to buy a couple of jigsaw puzzles. We got everything set up in our living room and now we always have a puzzle in the process of being put together.

While working on the current one, my thoughts went back to when we were ranching. There were nights when after checking what we called the maternity ward, we knew there was going to be a wait for a cow or heifer to calf. And that instead of napping in between checks we’d better be awake. The solution to that dilemma was to have jigsaw puzzles to work on while waiting for the new arrival.

One of our daughters commented over the past weekend that she remembered getting up during the night sometimes and seeing us sitting at the table that held a jigsaw puzzle. And of how she would wake up some mornings to a completed puzzle. She said her memories included she and her brothers and sister also poring over the puzzle in progress to find which pieces went where.

In this day and age, where people always seem to be so busy and seeing how much the techological age is taking over our entertainment and free time, I can’t help but think that we are losing the ability to find enjoyment in simpler ways of entertainment.

It would be sad if things such as playing cards, putting together jigsaw puzzles, and more disappeared and became nothing more than history.