Giving Directions in the car: Married Life

I'd convinced my husband to take a short side trip out to a State Natural Area the other day when he had to go to the VA Clinic in Baraboo.
He was reluctant and almost petulant. I offered to drive and got a curt "NO!"

So he asked me how to get to Baxter's Hollow.
I directed him rather easily for a 10 mile detour on back roads.
However.
When we left Baxter's Hollow, he insisted on not backtracking but that I guide him through the backroads to home.
There is no straight good route from Baxter's Hollow towards home. It does not exist.

I like paper maps, but didn't have one in the car. However I did have the Garmin so I turned it on and examined the roads shown. My last trip home from Baxter's Hollow was by Miss Garmin, and I didn't like 'her' directions one bit.

Me: Turn right off from this road onto County C.
Him: County C? We came in on County C. 
Me: Yes. We can go west on C. Or if you'd like, backtrack.
Him: NO! I thought you knew how to get out of here!
Me: Yes. Drive!

County C is a twisty up and down around type of road. It is rural and surrounded by woods and cropland. It sometimes twists back on itself.

Him: We keep turning around and making loops.
Me: County C is twisted, yes, I agree.
Him: Got a shorter route?
Me: Nope.

I grip the door handle as he bullets through a long curve. 
Me: Want me to drive?

Him: NO, you drive too slow.
Me [thinking...I drive so we can survive the trip]: Okay, we watch for County PF.
Him: P S?
Me: No, P as in Pony and F as in... [the only word I can think of that starts with F is a cuss word so I pause.]

Him: Well what is it P what?
Me: P as in Pony, F as in Fred, Frank, Fruitless, Fudge...
Him: Oh, PF.
Me: Yes.
Him: Where does that go?
A cornfield whizzes by. I look out the window and at the Garmin. I move my fingers on the map and try to expand and contract the map. It is frustrating.

Me: It goes to County Road D, which goes to County Road W, which takes us to Highway 23 south of Loganville.
Him: [big sigh and grunt, he is not a happy camper]

I look up and we are barreling towards an intersection.
Me: Stop sign.
Him: Oh [applies brakes] Yeah, I see it.

I press my foot through the floor on my side and sigh. Note to self, don't take side trips with husband unless he is more willing next time. And get a paper map for the car.

Him: Now where is this PF road, how far is it?
Me: Um, up ahead, just keep going.
Him: How far?
Me: I don't know.

Him: Why not you have that Garmin thing, doesn't it tell you?
Me: No, I'm not routing through the Garmin, just using the map. Miss Garmin took me on the craziest roads last time through here.

I sigh and hang on for another sweeping curve. The scenery is beautiful and very scenic. The sky is amazing.
We come up on PF.

Him: Which way? 
Me: North
Him: You sure? [he must doubt my navigation skills]
Me: Yes.
Him: North Freedom should be north of here.
Me: It is, north and east of here.
Him: North?
Me [big internal sigh]: Yes.

Him: How far is North Freedom?
Me: Far enough to be out of our way.

He takes off like we are trying to get the pole position at the Indy 500.
Me: What is the big yank?

Him: I want to get home before dark.
Me: It won't get dark for hours.
Him: Grunt.
Me: Enjoy the drive, the scenery is beautiful.
Him: Grunt, sigh.

Me: Here is D, follow D, it takes us to W then it is only 1.5 miles to Highway 23.
Him [Points to a sign]: Why not that road, it says 6 miles to Loganville.
Me: Because I think the better route is this way and it is still 6 miles to Loganville.
Him: Huge Sigh.

Mario Andretti takes off again. I look around looking for some formula cars. I check our hood to see if we have a sponsor. Nope.
We pass an Amish buggy. They don't have a sponsor or a formula buggy. Just one horse power.

We get onto W and as we ride the roller coaster road, I can see the end in sight. I won't have to navigate for him anymore.

Me: See! [I say proudly], there is Highway 23!
Him: Took long enough.
He signals to go north to Loganville. He knows all the backroads from there.

I am exhausted, but keep one foot on my pretend brake and one hand on the door handle.
Maybe our sidetrip wasn't worth it.

Me: Next time I want to go to Baxter Hollow or Pine Hollow, I'm going alone.
Him: Fine. Get a paper map.

I am convinced. Lesson learned. Husband doesn't like getting directions nor does he like last minute changes to anything he has going on.

Baxter Hollow

I went back to Baxter Hollow and didn't stray far from the bridge.
What a difference between February's visit and July's visit!

I'm just going to drop a few photos here and then let you enjoy.

When I have time, the wife giving directions while finding this natural area are almost too precious and hilarious.

Enjoy

 And Mr. Patience.

Dinner Conversation: Married Life

Note, since our last crazy conversation was so popular,... I included our dinner conversation today for your reading pleasure.

I was chopping vegetables from the garden in the kitchen and sauteing them in a pan.
The smells of fresh garlic, kale, kolrabi, onion, and green beans filled the air.

Him: Wow, smells great! What are you making?
Me: Stuff. I don't know, just putting a bunch of stuff together.
Him: What do you call it?
Me: Stuff Cooked and Put Over Noodles.
Him: Spaghetti?
Me: Close enough!

I don't really know what I am making except that I had a bunch of fresh vegetables and thought it would be fun to toss them together in a pan with some olive oil and spices to see what happened.

I continue to cook and saute the items together.

Him: Yum! I can't wait for supper, I am getting hungry!
Me [adding some canned tomatoes because I don't have any fresh yet]: Soon!

Pretty soon the noodles are cooked and I call him in from the porch.
Me: It's ready!
Him: Great!
He comes in and stares at the plates.

Him: What IS that?? 
He is pointing to the Kale that I didn't bother chopping into microscopic pieces. I've done that before with soups and other dishes.

Me: Kale.
Him: ...And what is that? What do you call this?
He is pointing at the pan, and making a face.

Me: I told you, it is called Stuff. Or Veggie Mix Up. Or Stuff Over Noodles.
Him: Oh. Don't give me much of that Stuff.

We sit down to eat and he is tentative about eating the 'Stuff', but samples it along with the noodles.

Me: So?
Him: So? Um, you can keep the Stuff, although it isn't bad. It would have been better with meat though and more sauce."
Me: Duly noted. Next time I'll add more sauce and put some spicy sausage in it.
Him: Lots and lots of sausage. 
He thinks for a moment. Then goes for another plate of noodles without The Stuff.

Him: You aren't trying to make me a vegetarian are you?
Me: Nope.

Him: What are you making tomorrow night?
Me: Meat and 'Tators.

Him [Big Smile]: Good!

Him and Me: A Dialogue for Crazy

So when the 'new' basement was put in, I moved some things down there to store them.

I quickly realized that the basement was going to need a dehumidifier. On warm days moisture would show up enough to make those items I stored for the duration of construction smell musty.

Me: "Honey,we are going to need a dehumidifier down here."

Him: "No, let's just see how things work out after they insulate."

So a month passed. On days that got warm the concrete floor would dampen in certain areas. The plastic milk crate of items I'd stored on the floor under the steps that contained items such as Murphy's Oil Soap and other cleaners all had moisture on them.

Me: "Look honey, we need a dehumidifier!"
Him: "It just needs to get used to the temperature, then it will be fine."

I brought up some items I'd stored. Potholders. They had mildew on them. 
I took them over to the trash can and said:

"Honey, I THINK we need a dehumidifier in the basement!"

Him: "Oh just wash them up and they will be fine."

I dumped them in the trash.

Then came some extremely humid and hot days. The humidity outside went up into the 80's and maybe 90%.

Oh you guessed it.

Me: "Honey. We. Need. To. Dehumidify the basement or what we have down there will be ruined. Ruint!"

Him: "We looked at dehumidifiers while we were at Menards and they are expensive!"

Me [smacking forehead]: "Yes they may cost a bit of money but I guess it is cheaper to use a dehumidifier than to replace everything I plan on putting in the basement. Or have stored already in the basement."

Him [going down the basement stairs to stare at the damp floor]: "I dunno."

Me: "I do. I'll pick one up today."

Fast forward. 
We take the new dehumidifier down the stairs and he opens the box.
Him: "Looks kinda small."
Me: "Want me to return it and buy the really expensive one?"
Him: "No."

He struggles to put the caster wheels on and then mutters some curses. I walk over to the box and take out the instructions and read them to him.

Him: "Go get my glasses."
I return with his glasses and he peers at the casters and then snaps them in place.
I refrain from saying. "Perhaps you should use your glasses more often!"

He plugs it in. The digital read out blips and then goes dark.
A bit of cursing.

I point to the Power Button.
He pushes it.
It turns on and the read out says 76.

Him: "What does that mean?"
Me [I read from the manual]: "The digital read out tells you the current humidity in the room. You can use a timer, a delayed timer, or if you wish you can leave it run with a hose attached so you will not have to empty the tray."

Him: "Timer what? I don't want it timed!"

I think calmly about ripping out my hair. Instead I reach for the broom nearby and sweep up some sawdust that the contractors left behind.

Me: "Hmmm, looks too damp yet to sweep up."

Him: "But I don't want it to run on a Timer, how much time is it on?"
Me: "There is the Timer Button, is it off or on?"
Him: "I don't know, where are my glasses?"

Me: "In your pocket. And..." [I hand him the manual] "here are the instructions."

I leave him to stare at the Mystical New Machine that we now have in our little basement addition.
It hums quietly and sucks mildewy moisture out of the room.
It befuddles my husband who stands for about 20 more minutes watching it.

I'm not sure what he expected it to do.
Run off?
Spew water?
Make Magical Unicorn Dust?

As I get to the top of the new stairs the urge is just too much.
I flip off the lights.

Him: "Hey!"
Me: "Oh. Sorry!"
I flip the lights back on and walk into the kitchen with a big smirk on my face.

It is going to be HOT and Muggy

Sunshine comes in from the Merry Meadow pre dawn and is followed by her sister, Sundance. 
The farrier arrives later today and sometimes it can be a pain to try and separate these girls from the rest of the gals.

However the red sisters came right to the gate together and I was able to put them in a nice shady pasture next to the Meadow.

They were happy but the other ladies and donkeys were slighty perturbed.

The Red Mollies tossed their noses up at them and went to grazing.
I didn't realize that things would go this way when I walked out before dawn to watch the sun rise over the Merry Meadow.
It was worth it in more than one way.

The girls seemed happy enough, so I left them to grazing. The farrier will be here this afternoon and they can enjoy the extra shady area until them.

Looks like a busy day in store for us, the contractors showed up and I've got to scurry around and move a few items.

Doors and trim come today. Also they will be trimming out the windows.

Empty

My adventure pal for the past week is gone and now the house feels.......

Empty.

Morris is feeling the lonely too. He is spending a lot of time on the sweatshirt Ariel wore while she was here. He keeps going up the stairs and looking for her.

Focus

Well the focus has been on riding. Ariel has ridden Fred every day this week.  She has come a very long way with her skills.

Before riding I have had her take Fred into the round pen and work a bit with him.
Here she was getting Fred to 'Heel' off from her shoulder.

It took a bit, but since he already does this with me, Ariel was able to get him to do it with her.

It helps enable a new rider's confidence when they don't have to touch the equine and the equine mimics their every move while not on a lead line.

Fred has never had any formal training on lunging and since he is about 30+ ish years old, we aren't going to confuse him. He has done such a fine job with Ariel this week.

We started out the week just sitting on Fred and learning to balance and move with the mule.
I can't tell you how many hours we worked with that because I didn't keep track. I just wanted Ariel to learn how to find her seat and feel light and airy on top of Fred.

When we moved outside to a small paddock, she felt confident in her abilities. We keep working on a better leg position for her, but I feel as though I need to try a different saddle. 
The stirrup fenders in this one are so stiff, okay for my husband, but not quite what I'd like to see for a new rider.

Taking care of Fred before and after riding is as important as the ride itself.

Learning that you need to stay focused and confident is all about learning.
Well, at least that is my opinion.  I am not a trainer, I've just done informal work with 4H kids over the years.

Yesterday we got dressed up for our All Two Mule 4th of July Parade.

I put my camera on a tripod and used a remote with a delay so we could get this shot. 
We rode together along our gravel roads but kept the mules on the edges of the hay fields to avoid any traffic if it were to come through.

We never saw a car. And we still had a wonderful time.

After 'the parade' Ariel's folks showed up. We weren't quite ready to stop riding. Ariel didn't want to get off. 
[Not a surprise, I didn't want to at her age either. I was always sad when my rides with my cousins ended.]

So we set up some obstacles in the large empty paddock. Hula hoops, balls, a 'bridge', and a black door mat.

We tested our own confidence with this exercise. Ariel learned that if she believed she couldn't get Fred near the balls, then Fred wouldn't do it.
However, I talked to her and said that no matter what people say, a mule can tell what you are thinking and they feel your confidence in them through your body language.
If you see nudging the ball with the hoof as something you can't do, then Fred will believe he can't either.

We ended up playing kickball with our mules. Not a wild game but where we'd take a few turns getting our mules to bump the balls with their hooves.

Ariel and Fred have made a good team. I think this shot says it pretty clearly.

I am pretty impressed with Ariel's focus and attention to detail. She listened all week as we progressed daily with Fred.
Even when Fred gave her a hard time, she was patient and didn't lose her poise.

Her week of learning to ride is ending and I'm pretty sure that this will be the thing she misses most.

After Ariel finished, her brother was given a ride by Grandpa.

He wants to learn to ride too.