MAY 2023
MAY 31, 2023
NOTE: This post is significantly longer than the previous one, so proceed at your own discretion. We offer no satisfaction or money-back guarantees, nor will your time be refunded should you choose to spend it here!
What's in a name? This question, posed by Shakespeare's Capuletian protagonist, has proven to be one which I regularly ask myself, though not, mind you, to the end of establishing with any measure of conclusivity the insignificance of dissimilar monikers for a particular strain of blooming flora by means of the olfactory sense. Rather, I have often found myself asking this question when employed in such mundane endeavors as creating a new blog, choosing a domain name for a website, or even giving a title to my latest Sunday School lesson.
True to form, as the thoughts of starting this blog for Laurel and myself began to take shape, I started "ideastorming" to find the appropriate name for our very own corner of the World Wide Web. The "ideastorming" resulted in a lengthy list of potential candidates for the position, the goal being to capture something unique or particularly apropos about Laurel and myself. Using a logic-based, objective methodology, (read "Hey Hon, how does this sound?") we eventually arrived at the perfect name for our site, Puzzle Box Top.
To explain the significance of this title and from whence it is derived, we must go back in time, specifically to last year, being the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-two. It was a Saturday, if the gray matter hasn't proven faulty. Laurel and I had driven to town to spend the day walking, wandering and window-shopping. (Though why we need more windows is beyond me!...hey, along those lines, does anyone have a garage for sale?!). During the course of the day we found ourselves at one of our favorite haunts along Main St., a local store having a guitar shop on the lower level, a puzzle shop on the second floor, with the main level being devoted to books, toys, games and decor. Now Laurel loves puzzles, and not being in the least opposed to that felicitous pursuit myself, we headed upstairs and began to browse.
It was there, surrounded by a visual cacophony of colorful jigsaw puzzle boxes that we coined a new idiom, puzzle box top. To be sure, it has evolved since then through several iterations, alternately being followed by such words as "moment," "scene," "experience," or "circumstance," and generally preceded by the definite article "a." So, you may be asking, we now know where it comes from, but what does it mean? What is a puzzle box top moment or experience?
To answer this, go with us if you will in your mind's eye back to a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Consider the sights, the sounds, the smells. Don't be satisfied with just one of these holidays, but consider other celebrations of that same holiday that you have experienced over the years. What were the meals like? What was the weather like? Who all was seated around the table? Were there jokes and laughter? Do you remember the feelings? Do you remember the smell of the variety of dishes made especially for that holiday? What of the holiday decor or the twinkling lights?
Now, consider a Thanksgiving or Christmas puzzle, especially one that is made from a painting or illustration. Hasn't the artist attempted to represent in one static scene the entire symphony of sense and sentiment that you just recently had in your mind's eye? We believe it to be so, and this then is the essence of the idiom. A puzzle box top moment is one that is the synergistic ideal of that particular moment. It is a quintessential moment, encompassing more than just the sum of the parts which make it up. It is that moment to its fullest and best!
Since Laurel and I were married, we have had this puzzle box top experience repeated over and over again. It happened that evening on our honeymoon when we sat out on the porch of the log cabin, set back among a stand of quaking aspens, wrapped in blankets and alternately reading Dickens' David Copperfield to each other as darkness fell and the cheerful stream burbled and chuckled merrily in the distance. It happened the afternoon we visited a local candy and ice cream shop for ice cream cones, only to be subsequently caught in a sudden downpour on our walk home which found us dashing madly from tree to tree in the vain attempt to find shelter, laughing hysterically the entire time.
And what of you, dear reader? How many times have you considered the puzzle box tops in your life? It is fitting that we close this lengthy dissertation with an idiomatic inclusio (thank you for this word, Pastor Brandon!) coming down to us from, as Dickens would say, the "wisdom of our ancestors." As you make your way through the highways and byways of this life, take time to employ your olfactory senses in the appreciation of the aforementioned blooming flora...and always remember to thank the Lord in and for all things!
"In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV)
"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
- Ephesians 5:20 (KJV)
What's in a name? This question, posed by Shakespeare's Capuletian protagonist, has proven to be one which I regularly ask myself, though not, mind you, to the end of establishing with any measure of conclusivity the insignificance of dissimilar monikers for a particular strain of blooming flora by means of the olfactory sense. Rather, I have often found myself asking this question when employed in such mundane endeavors as creating a new blog, choosing a domain name for a website, or even giving a title to my latest Sunday School lesson.
True to form, as the thoughts of starting this blog for Laurel and myself began to take shape, I started "ideastorming" to find the appropriate name for our very own corner of the World Wide Web. The "ideastorming" resulted in a lengthy list of potential candidates for the position, the goal being to capture something unique or particularly apropos about Laurel and myself. Using a logic-based, objective methodology, (read "Hey Hon, how does this sound?") we eventually arrived at the perfect name for our site, Puzzle Box Top.
To explain the significance of this title and from whence it is derived, we must go back in time, specifically to last year, being the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-two. It was a Saturday, if the gray matter hasn't proven faulty. Laurel and I had driven to town to spend the day walking, wandering and window-shopping. (Though why we need more windows is beyond me!...hey, along those lines, does anyone have a garage for sale?!). During the course of the day we found ourselves at one of our favorite haunts along Main St., a local store having a guitar shop on the lower level, a puzzle shop on the second floor, with the main level being devoted to books, toys, games and decor. Now Laurel loves puzzles, and not being in the least opposed to that felicitous pursuit myself, we headed upstairs and began to browse.
It was there, surrounded by a visual cacophony of colorful jigsaw puzzle boxes that we coined a new idiom, puzzle box top. To be sure, it has evolved since then through several iterations, alternately being followed by such words as "moment," "scene," "experience," or "circumstance," and generally preceded by the definite article "a." So, you may be asking, we now know where it comes from, but what does it mean? What is a puzzle box top moment or experience?
To answer this, go with us if you will in your mind's eye back to a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Consider the sights, the sounds, the smells. Don't be satisfied with just one of these holidays, but consider other celebrations of that same holiday that you have experienced over the years. What were the meals like? What was the weather like? Who all was seated around the table? Were there jokes and laughter? Do you remember the feelings? Do you remember the smell of the variety of dishes made especially for that holiday? What of the holiday decor or the twinkling lights?
Now, consider a Thanksgiving or Christmas puzzle, especially one that is made from a painting or illustration. Hasn't the artist attempted to represent in one static scene the entire symphony of sense and sentiment that you just recently had in your mind's eye? We believe it to be so, and this then is the essence of the idiom. A puzzle box top moment is one that is the synergistic ideal of that particular moment. It is a quintessential moment, encompassing more than just the sum of the parts which make it up. It is that moment to its fullest and best!
Since Laurel and I were married, we have had this puzzle box top experience repeated over and over again. It happened that evening on our honeymoon when we sat out on the porch of the log cabin, set back among a stand of quaking aspens, wrapped in blankets and alternately reading Dickens' David Copperfield to each other as darkness fell and the cheerful stream burbled and chuckled merrily in the distance. It happened the afternoon we visited a local candy and ice cream shop for ice cream cones, only to be subsequently caught in a sudden downpour on our walk home which found us dashing madly from tree to tree in the vain attempt to find shelter, laughing hysterically the entire time.
And what of you, dear reader? How many times have you considered the puzzle box tops in your life? It is fitting that we close this lengthy dissertation with an idiomatic inclusio (thank you for this word, Pastor Brandon!) coming down to us from, as Dickens would say, the "wisdom of our ancestors." As you make your way through the highways and byways of this life, take time to employ your olfactory senses in the appreciation of the aforementioned blooming flora...and always remember to thank the Lord in and for all things!
"In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV)
"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
- Ephesians 5:20 (KJV)
MAY 30, 2023
Some of you may be wondering where Laurel and I came up with the name for this blog. It was derived from an idiom that we minted just last year, "puzzle box top." As this is the short(er) version of this post, I'll simply give you now the definition and an example.
puzzle box top
1. the ideal or quintessential
2. the synergistic realization of that ideal for any given situation or circumstance
The light of the westering sun illuminated the early autumn leaves, adorned in their brilliant scarlets, golds and greens, and set them in stunning contrast against the azure dome far overhead, through which several puffy white clouds could be seen making their way. There was a slight nip in the air, pleasantly kept in check by steaming cups of freshly-brewed coffee which we gratefully sipped and cradled in our hands. A light breeze animated the first fallen leaves, causing them to skip and skitter across the path in front of us, and encouraged several of their unfallen brethren to relinquish their lofty perch and float lazily down to join them in the dance. High above us a flock of geese winged their way southward, and beneath our feet the shadows lengthened. We didn't need to speak, for we were savoring the sites and sounds around us. It was truly a "puzzle box top" moment.
puzzle box top
1. the ideal or quintessential
2. the synergistic realization of that ideal for any given situation or circumstance
The light of the westering sun illuminated the early autumn leaves, adorned in their brilliant scarlets, golds and greens, and set them in stunning contrast against the azure dome far overhead, through which several puffy white clouds could be seen making their way. There was a slight nip in the air, pleasantly kept in check by steaming cups of freshly-brewed coffee which we gratefully sipped and cradled in our hands. A light breeze animated the first fallen leaves, causing them to skip and skitter across the path in front of us, and encouraged several of their unfallen brethren to relinquish their lofty perch and float lazily down to join them in the dance. High above us a flock of geese winged their way southward, and beneath our feet the shadows lengthened. We didn't need to speak, for we were savoring the sites and sounds around us. It was truly a "puzzle box top" moment.
MAY 25, 2023
Welcome and a warm "howdy howdy" to our family, friends, neighbors, relatives, co-workers, in-laws, out-laws, acquaintances, the crossing guard I wave to on school days, and the random web surfer who ends up here after making one too many wrong turns on the Internet! Laurel and I are just starting to get moved in to our new digital domicile here at Puzzle Box Top, so pardon the mess. Look for updates in the near future as we settle down and start making this place a (virtual) home.
For those of you who remember personal web pages of the 1990s and early 2000s, do you recall the plethora of "under construction" gifs like the one I used for this post? For a quick jaunt down memory lane, (or for those who are too young to have experienced the "old web"), have a look at Jason Scott's collection of "under construction" gifs or browse the gif collection over at GifCities.
For those of you who remember personal web pages of the 1990s and early 2000s, do you recall the plethora of "under construction" gifs like the one I used for this post? For a quick jaunt down memory lane, (or for those who are too young to have experienced the "old web"), have a look at Jason Scott's collection of "under construction" gifs or browse the gif collection over at GifCities.