It is………………

For those of you playing at home here is the answer to the question I posed on my blog yesterday.

The gnarly looking, pinkish red coloured object, which I think looks a bit like a Chinese dragon form is a seed pod off our deciduous magnolia tree.

This season there are lots and lots of these pods, most of them smaller than this one but of varying shapes. I don’t remember seeing so many pods before.

Here is another such pod showing the brightly coloured seeds almost ready to fall out.

And here are two seeds from a pod that was fully open but the seeds had yet to detach their pale thread from the pod. I have plucked the seeds out.

I’ve yet to see a tiny magnolia tree sprouting beneath the mature tree but most of the seeds would fall onto concrete here.

I’m glad my curiosity led me to this discovery.

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Puzzles

I have a curious and inquiring mind.  I wrestle with the Big puzzles about God and life and purpose and existence and this puzzling seems to happen in a wide and expansive part of my brain.

 I also wrestle on a daily basis with more minor puzzles, such as what to cook for dinner!  Lots of these sorts of puzzles get worked on in the part of my brain that applies logic and consequential thinking.

However I also love crossword puzzles and my brain seems to work on these in a quiet, focused, “flow” part of my brain.  One particular type of word puzzle I enjoy is called a Code Cracker

( go to www. codecrackerbooks.com for more details).  Once I have cracked the initial code I can follow with little hesitation through the puzzle.  I can become oblivious to time and other distractions.  I feel a sense of satisfaction once the code is cracked, as well as a relaxed feeling that comes from giving my whole attention totally to one task.

Another trick I have learnt about my brain and how I function is to leave the clues I cannot solve initially in a crossword and go and do something completely different.  I often return to find the answers pop instantly to mind.  I find that I can use this trick to help solve other puzzles in my life that don’t always have a single, straightforward or easy answer.   Time and focus on other tasks or activities can sometimes allow some other part of my brain to come up with an answer or a variety of answers to choose from.

I am interested in hearing about puzzles you enjoy and ways in which your brain works to help you solve puzzles.