One time, when I was in the Navy, we’d been out to sea for many weeks, and we were all struggling to find activities to alleviate the persistent gray boredom.

My buddy Ski was a guy so crazy he once snuck back onto the ship while AWOL to say hello to everybody.

Ski asked me if I played chess.

I admitted I didn’t.

Ski said he’d teach me.

We played for a half an hour or more.

I was really beginning to feel like I was getting the hang of chess when Ski couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. I looked up from the board with my standard stupid-puppy expression, and Ski said, “Man, I don’t know how to play chess.”

*****

Rummaging through a box of local memorabilia, I ran across an April 1, 1965 copy of my county newspaper, the Queen Anne’s Record Observer.