Puzzling Thoughts

I like puzzles. I assume it's genetic but I can't be sure. My father was obsessive about crossword puzzles in the last couple of years of his life. Perhaps longer. There were always crossword puzzle books around the house, even when I was fairly young. I thought it was my mother because I rarely noticed my father looking at them. He may have, though, when I was not around and I was not around a lot after I hit my teens.

I did not try to solve many puzzles when young. Wasn't interested. Well, not in crossword or jigsaw puzzles. Life was enough of a puzzle to me. And figuring out ways of doing what I wanted without getting caught... something I thought would be a good skill to hone at the time. I figured out ways to steal cars, to break into places, to stay out all night, to avoid the police, to trick the police into thinking me innocent... these skills were useful to me from time to time.

I like to think I was a natural problem solver. Just my ego talking, I suppose. But that curiosity has served me well since I left the Navy. Up until retirement, that is. Now, I am back to solving that grand puzzle: life itself.

And, of course, the daily crossword and jigsaw puzzles I seem addicted to.