Being cared for

I know I've promised you train pictures and stories but the timing is just off for me. Since we returned home I've had an urgent root canal and Gus had his issues. When is a root canal not urgent? 

Anyways, we've been healing and resting for a couple of weeks now. And tonight one of the things I'd like to talk about is how my Hubby takes care of me, even when he does not know that he is.

When I am sick, in pain or afraid I tend to turn into our dog Smokey from my childhood farm days. Smokey was a tough, intelligent dog. Except when thunderstorms rolled in, then you could find him desperately trying to get into the kitchen or in the kitchen crouched under the table. He just wanted to hole up some place safe and ride out the storm. Since my response is similar it can be difficult to take care of me, first you have to coax me out from under the table without getting bit.

I am joking, I don't hide under the table, I just go into isolation mode. You can see D's dilemma. 

D has found other ways of giving me comfort without putting on a show. He took over the driving on part of the trip and gave me some good knitting time. It felt weird to be in the passenger seat knitting and not looking at the road but it was nice. It is amazing what some nice yarn and time can give you. 

Secondly, he did not call me crazy cat lady when I ran off to the vet's with Gus on a split second decision. He just told me to drive safe and take care of both of us. And he empathizes with me on how hard it is to be the Momma with a sick kitty. 

Thirdly, he supports me in all my crazy ways. JessaLu, of Stitched by JessaLu, was having a photo contest on Ravelry. She wanted to see all her bags out on vacation with people. As a quirky roadside attraction she listed the Corn Palace of Indiana. My first thought was Indiana has a corn palace too? I thought South Dakota had the only one. I was right and sent her a message telling of her mistake, which she quickly corrected. (Anyone else hearing Highlander saying "There can be only one"?)

In all the years of driving across the state we've never stopped at...any roadside attraction. Seems like we rarely play tourist in our own state.

Since we were going home during the eligible time frame it became my goal to enter the contest with Mitchell Corn Palace as my picture. D laughed and said yes we need to stop so I could do this.

And so we did, with all three of my JessaLu bags. Because you know I need a lot of knitting and bags are like children you should not have favorites. (Shh my favorite is still my first one, the black one with knitting sheep on it, don't tell the others.)

D offered to take a picture for someone else and they returned the favor to us.

The Corn Palace was rather nifty. The outside is decorated with corn and the inside (which is free) has displays of corn uses and how the decorating works.

After we returned home D found a video of the Colbert Report, reporting on how last year's drought affected the corn crop. Four of the colors of corn were not available so it had to be replanned with less color.

We had so much fun playing tourists that we have decided to stop some place new every year. We're going to enjoy the ride rather than just try to make time between the families. So far we're thinking the Badlands next year.

So I wanted to thank D for finding new ways of keeping me happy. He has already found asking for more socks works wonders.