Hi Readers,
Once again I open up with an apology for not posting for so long, but things have been pretty hectic the last few months in the swank offices of "The Bernard Files"
Due to a family illness, I have needed to take leave from my work as a school teacher for an extended period of time. This has been the case since early August and will continue on for some time.
As a result, I have had a lot of time on my hands at different periods, and being someone who can't sit still at the best of times, I have needed to find ways to occupy myself.
I guess we all have things that we say we are going to do, and I've been lucky to have achieved many of these.
Among them. ...
Run a marathon - Tick. A number of times
Bungee Jump - Tick. What was I thinking???
Overseas travel - Many ticks. Will never forget how lucky I have been, and the places I have seen.
Owning a Jeep - Tick. For some reason I had always wanted one. It was a great car.
Owning a motorbike - Tick. Tick. Onto my 2nd bike. My current bike is just so good to ride, can't see myself parting with it for a long time.
Learn to play the guitar - No tick here. I wasn't patient enough!!
Work in a bank - Tick. I don't know why, but all through my teens that's all I wanted to do. Once I left school I did it for a year and hated it.
Become a teacher - Tick. I must have liked this because I've been doing it for 36 years!!
Complete the Hawaiian Ironman course - No tick. My body wouldn't allow it now anyway!!
So, these are just a few of many things that I have done or have wanted to do. I'd love to hear some of yours!!
As I have been on my own and in some sort of isolation for a while, I am finding other ways to occupy myself.
Jigsaws
My first task was to complete a 2 000 piece jigsaw that my wife gave me for Christmas in 2020.
I started off like a house on fire and did all the edges first and thought I was the King of Jigsaws. Then I saw the enormity of the task ahead of me and thought "What have i committed myself to??" I then sorted the pieces into containers that I presumed were in similar parts of the picture, trouble was, I needed about 12 containers!!😖
Needless to say, it quietly got placed under the couch "for another day". That day came about 10 months later when I found myself at home alone quite a lot and needed to kill time.
I must say at this point that the jigsaw was a map of the world, and as I have always wanted to travel, this has special meaning to me as I just love looking at world maps. We even have one in our lounge room.
After biting the bullet and pulling it out again, I set it up on our dining room table (rendering it unusable for quite a few weeks!!)
I was surprised at how addictive it was to work on it. What I think really motivated me was that I was rediscovering memories from places that Jenny (my wife) had been, and where our boys had been on their travels. It was not uncommon for me to do "just a few more pieces" before I went to bed, only to find myself still at it 2 hours later. I couldn't believe how quickly time flew when I was working on it. Even just walking past it would tempt me to add just a few pieces, and next minute I have been at it for more than an hour!!!
There was the challenge of actually getting it done, coupled with testing my own knowledge of where specific places were in the world. There was one piece in particular that I was 100% convinced belonged in Australia, only to figure out a few weeks later that it was part of Madagascar!!!
And I'll confess that I cheated a little by using Google Maps from time to time to get an idea where certain pieces belong !!
So, here are some shots I took along the way.
Pay close attention to the last photo, and if you can, leave a one word comment about what you would say if this happened to you.
The problem is still in the unsolved basket 🤬!!
I was hesitant about doing this jigsaw, but absolutely loved it.
Two more jigsaws have been purchased showing places where Jen and I have travelled and are among our favourite places ever.
In the beginning...
Bit, by bit...
I had been avoiding the ocean for obvious reasons !!
. I'm saving them for when she rejoins me soon and we will have lots of time on our hands to use up. Also, just the discussions with her as we complete them will no doubt rekindle even more memories of our trips away.
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