Everyday in the Inez Apartment building, one is likely to see some sort of social activity, such as weekly coffee on Tuesdays or a game of bridge. One activity, however, has come to mirror the diverse, little community itself — puzzles.

There are usually at least one or two completed puzzles on display in the Inez, most of which were put together by resident Violet Palmer. Palmer is a retired accountant who moved to Brookhaven from Daytona Beach, Florida, to be closer to family. Palmer said in the five years since she has been in the Homeseeker’s Paradise, she has been welcomed as warmly as any family would.

“The people here in the Inez are very friendly and the management, Ed and Sally, are just very welcoming,” Palmer said. “They’re friends just as much they are your managers.”

Palmer said she has always enjoyed reading, playing bridge and doing crosswords and puzzles, preferring hobbies that exercise her brain.

“I just always like the puzzle theme in anything,” she said. “I’d rather do this or read than Lumosity on my iPad. The Lumosity is boring. And also because it’s outside my apartment and my friends come sit around and watch me, and we chat. And sometimes snack.”

The puzzles have become sort of a staple in the common area of the Inez and have brought together residents young and old alike. Each semester, a few graduating engineering students come to intern in town and stay in the Inez. Palmer said recently one student turned out to be one talented puzzler.

“This young guy liked puzzles, and he would stop by on his way in with his hardhat in his hand,” Palmer said. “And he could stand here and pick up pieces [and] just put them in, without mulling it over or looking through them, he was very good. He even introduced me to his family on his telephone.”

Palmer invites neighbors to join in and enjoy the puzzles. Palmer said when people started noticing the puzzles and that she liked to do them, she started receiving them from friends and neighbors as well as her family.

The last puzzle to be completed was a 1,000-piece scene of a cabin on a lake that had several players contribute over about a month. Palmer said it was given to her last Christmas by a couple who live in the Inez during the week for work and travel to their home in Baton Rouge on the weekends.

As Palmer works on a new 500-piece puzzle featuring a colorful, painterly Koi fish scene, Lisha Jacobson stops to admire the puzzle her husband, Dan, gave Palmer. She was seeing the finished product for the first time and stopped to admire it.

“The scene is so peaceful and soothing,” Lisha said. “It’s absolutely gorgeous. I just love that picture.”

Lisha also dotes on Palmer, who is quite often noticed for her outgoing, warm and witty personality. The impromptu visit is typical of how the puzzle table brings folks together. Some residents have said it is an amazing way to clear the mind, focusing on a task that is rewarding and fun.

“It becomes a social thing,” Palmer said. “Which I think is good because we don’t need to just stay in our rooms all the time.”

Palmer works on the puzzles, one at a time, a little bit every day. She said she finishes about two a month because she takes her time, is doing it for enjoyment and also, she said, “to keep my 85-year-old brain working.”

“It’s something you can do on your own and do it anytime, you don’t have to go somewhere to do it,” she said. “It keeps your mind alert and is fun to see the picture come to life.

“And then when it’s finished you feel good and leave it out on the table awhile,” she continued. “Also you have to like the solo aspect of it and colors and so forth. I just always like the puzzle theme in anything.”