normack77 wrote:
Sometimes it's not clear to me whether say, the white pawns are heading north or south. Does this become clearer with practice? Thanks..
This can confuse some people. I think it becomes clearer. Usually, the are annotations on the board that tell you which direction pawns move (ie a, b, c, 1, 2, 3) and as a general rule the side that is to move in the puzzle is shown at the bottom. For example, if the puzzle says, "Black to move", the Black pieces are shown towards the bottom and pawns move "up". Good luck. 
Sometimes it's not clear to me whether say, the white pawns are heading north or south. Does this become clearer with practice? Thanks..