Games fathers and sons play

AUBURN, Maine - My eyes never leave the board when he makes his next move.

He is a cunning and dangerous tactician who knows how to maneuver his fleet of old battle wagons and carriers and place my ships in harm's way.

I try to stay a step ahead of my son, Anthony, but where ever I direct my battleships and submarines, he is there to meet me  with his intrepid and deadly fleet. 

He doesn't miss a thing.

This is not chess; this is war!

Well, not exactly.

It's a game without the video. No need for technology and the joy stick. You have to use your brain, especially when you send your planes on a mission to knock out a carrier or the other big bastards — cruisers and destroyers.

There are plenty of curve balls along the way as two navies slug it out on the open waters of the Atlantic.

Welcome to "Axis and Allies" — a game where naval tactics and the ability to keep your eye on your opponent and playing cards at the same time means life or death when you begin blasting away at each other.

Take your eye off the helm and just watch him deep-six a key battleship.

A friend of mine once told me fishing isn't really about catching fish. He said angling is about time you spend with someone you love. Sure, reeling in "The Big One" after a 10-minute tussle with a stubborn bottom-dweller is rewarding, but watching my smiling son proudly pulling in his own fish is priceless.

It's true. It is not about the fishing, and hiking isn't about just walking in the woods on a warm summer day. During these moments of leisure, random conversations appear out of nowhere as we cast our lines or make our way along a trail. We reveal ourselves and swap dreams and ambitions on a sandy pond. Our talks cement our relationships as we travel in our tiny universe.

Our big board game that consumes us in a cellar on rainy days keeps my son and I connected and reinforces our mutual interests about history. The hours we spend trying to strafe, bomb, sink or torpedo our fleets is as equally important as our conversations that emerge during a surface battle.

Look, there is nothing I like better than sending one of his battleships to the bottom. I know he takes great joy in deep-sixing one of my carriers.

And we both take pleasure watching our destroyers and cruisers pelt each other with their 10- and 5-inch guns with the roll of a dice.

We are both trying to rule the high seas as we roam this vast ocean, but in between setting our flotillas on a course of destruction, we strike up discussions during these fire fights. No topic is taboo. We share our stories of the past and opinions about the present.

There are a lot of things I could be doing around the house.  

But I know I will never spend these precious moments with Anthony again. I sop up these minutes with my son, knowing all along that the games we play will not continue forever , although I wish they could.