An Old Trunk & Blind Chess

Ramble Warning

This past week my daughter, Susan, asked if I had a trunk that she could use for a coffee table.  Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!  I can get rid of one more thing!

When my maternal Grandfather died in 1963 I lived a long way from home, in Gainesville, FL.  His home needed to be emptied.  My parents saved an old trunk for me.

My Mother explained it’s origins, it had belonged to her brother, Harry.  Harry was killed in a hunting accident on Jan. 1, 1920 at age 18. 

She explained her brothers didn’t have dressers or chests of drawers in their bedroom, they each had a trunk.  They had pegs on the wall for some of their clothes and everything else went into their trunk.

The metal corners and edges were very thin metal that had split and jagged edges stuck out.  I ordered new ones.  I used paint remover on the rest of it and it cleaned up real nice. 

The new lock broke just like the original one had broken. 

I put stuff in it that I didn’t know where else to put.  Like the unfinished embroidery of my Mother’s, my old report cards, doll clothes, an old geography book dated 1883 that had belonged to my uncle Harry.  (a clue to spelling the word geography – George Elliot’s Old Grandmother Rode A Pig Home Yesterday).

Also the data from a computer program that my first husband was writing, a program for blind chess.  Blind chess is a whole other story.

It takes three people and two chess sets to play blind chess.  Each player has their own chess board and set of pieces, neither player can see the other players board, the third person is a referee. 

We found a TV tray tipped up in the middle of the table was pretty good to keep the players from seeing one another’s boards.

The referee can see both boards.  When a player makes a move the referee blends the two boards in their mind and says either “white has made a valid move, black to move” or “white has made an invalid move”.  If the move in invalid white has to keep trying until he makes a valid move. Sometimes the call was “white has made a valid move, pawn captured, black to move” and then the ref has to remove the pawn.

Don’t ask me why anyone thought of this game – why do college kids do anything.  Being referee made me dizzy but it was usually my job.  I was glad when they thought a computer could do that job.  I don’t think they ever perfected it.

The geography book is politically incorrect as it says “The caucasian, or white race, is superior to all others, and is the most numerous.”

It also says “ The United States is a Republic, consisting of 46 states, 4 territories, and the District of Columbia.  One of the territories, Alaska, is not organized.”

The whole book is interesting. 

Maybe I could slip some more stuff into that trunk before they come to get it on Sunday.   HAHAHAHA (evil laugh).

Later….