Several people e-mailed me over the past few days asking if I could do a close-up on the final touches and trim Maria has put on our newly painted chestboard-on-a-dining-room table.

I was laughing this morning, thinking of what my mother or grandmother would have said if anyone wanted to paint a chessboard on their dining room tables. That would be ugly. The above photo is the requested close-up of the trim Mara put on the chessboard. We used to play all the time, then forgot about it. We are serious about it now and plan to spend many winter evenings around that table playing chess on that board. I love the way it looks.

Only an artist like Maria would think of it.

The next game is tonight after dinner.