When I was in second grade, I got in trouble for gluing a puzzle of the United States together. When I was ten, my father taught me how to play chess, a much happier memory. It seems my childhood can be remembered through the games I played while growing up. So I loved the idea of this topic, when I learned it was one of the themes I would be working with as a Status Hat guest editor. Games and puzzles are an integral part of our lives since the very beginning; from the ones that teach us motor and problem solving skills to the ones we choose to play as adults.
I am still astounded by the variety of games and puzzles available: board games, video games, brain teasers that help us think, to name a few. There are also those we play on a daily basis, sometimes as a distraction, but sometimes as a way to work out problems in our lives. We may find ourselves looking for missing pieces in our lives, and can't see the bigger picture. Yet, in searching for a lost piece of our puzzle, the side trips and detours we take can show us different perspectives. They can even take us down a road we never imagined, leading to a whole new set of games, and rules to play by.
It was a pleasure being editor on this edition and I hope you enjoy the little detour and side trip of this month’s Games and Puzzles issue of Status Hat Magazine.
Vicki Baumgartner-Schaeffer
Guest Editor, Summer 2011
PS: To this day, I still glue together jigsaw puzzles I complete.
