Maria and I are into playing chess once again, and we like it so much we are painting a chessboard on the dining room table where we like to play. Chess is much more fun than streaming on a cold and stormy winter night.

You have to think. We both concentrate, take our time, and mutter a lot.

We often stay home at night in the dark and snow and ice days.

One reason is that we are tired; we usually work until seven or p.m.,  and the other is that driving at night this time of year can be challenging.

Except for weekends, when we head out for movies, we stay home most weekday evenings.

We read, work, or stream a bit. And we play chess, as we did for years.

A few days ago, we remembered how much fun we had playing chess when we first met in Hebron at the first Bedlam Farm.

We love the game; it is good brain food for both of us, two workaholics who love brain exercise and the thinking that goes into this game.

We are both competitive and hate to lose, but we never go too far with that. There will always be another game. This afternoon, I’m reviewing the chess rules to ensure we are up to date, especially Castling and En Passant.

We love playing it again, and this time, Maria, ever the artist, proposed painting a chessboard on the dining room table.

Sure, I said, it’s a great idea. She’s an artist and a good one. Maria always thinks like an artist and looks around for reasons to make art. This is a nice one.

Maria did a lot of measuring and experimenting. We’re ready to go. We had to go to the hardware store for some black paint. We have the orange in the basement.

Today, I sanded the spot on the table, and Maria painted it orange. Our board will be orange and black. The second coat is drying, and she’ll paint the chessboard tonight and tomorrow.

Sanding is my only part; she knows how to do the rest. I’ll keep up with it, of course, and I hope we can play our first game on the new and permanent board tonight.

We put two coats of orange paint over the board site; Maria will start sketching the squares tonight. This is an excellent addition to our winter evenings. We both love to play the game.

We both get along so well because we have the same interests, and life is never dull around here, from the animals to our love of change. We are evenly matched in chess; it distracts us and gets our brain cells jumping.

If the game drags on and we are stuck, we quit and start again. We both have large egos but leave them behind for the chess games.