We’re playing chess a lot, and Maria has been working on painting a chessboard on the dining room table. We eat on opposite sides of the table and play chess in the same spot. I love what she’s done. The dark squares (64) didn’t dry as solidly as expected, but I love this color better. It gives the board character.

We’ll repaint them tonight and see how they look tomorrow. We are happy to return to chess, our games are fun, intense and exciting. Living with an artist differs from anyone I’ve ever lived with. They see the world visually and in different ways and are unafraid to take chances. You might say the same thing of writers.