I found an old friend last month. It was the book titled “The Human Zoo” by Desmond Morris. I had originally read this book 50 years ago, and yet, I was to find it timely.

Morris talks about “dominance display” in the animal kingdom. For example, the top rooster, with his chest puffed out, strutting across the yard, the “cock of the walk.”

Morris makes the point that humans display dominance as well.

Shortly thereafter I met a man while walking near the lake. We spoke amicably for a while, and I asked him if he was a “local.”

“No,” he said, “I just came here to mow lawns.”

His face revealed a moment of indecision, and, unlike the “Dude” in “The Big Lebowski,” he could not abide. He could not let stand my view of him as a mower.

So, he went on to tell me that he owned a few houses in Lakeport, and several other properties, and, that the jewel of his holdings was a rental in Hawaii.

He had declared a full house, and was pretty sure that I was not holding four of a kind.

Unfortunately, I did not even have a pair: I live in a senior mobile park with my 13 year old dog. There was nothing left for me but to bluff.

“I have three boats,” I heard myself saying.

Then, he asked, “Do you keep them at Braito’s Marina?”

The jig was up. “No,” I responded, “in my bath tub.”

Nelson Strasser lives in Kelseyville, Calif.