Highway 42 between Wilson and Middlesex, North Carolina, is one such road, and it is where my mother and I found ourselves last night shortly after 9:00 pm.

Our journey had begun approximately 6 hours earlier when, without much notice or ceremony, one of my cousins who is both elderly and schizophrenic was declared ready to be discharged from the hospital after what had been a week-long stay.

He needed a ride from the hospital to which he had been transferred back to the board and care that has been his home for many years now. Given the time of day and the distance to be traversed, my mother and I decided that this was a job for both of us, so we set out from my mother’s home in Durham, picked my cousin up in Chapel Hill, then made our way east to Rocky Mount.

After getting my cousin situated, going over the discharge orders with the staff of the board and care, and saying hello to his younger brother who lives in the same home, we began the return trip, taking a route that was sufficiently familiar that we did not have to worry about getting too terribly lost.

But despite our efforts, it had been a long day, and eventually I missed a turn. Soon we found ourselves on another less traveled road, driving through the metropolises of Sims (population 283), Bailey (population 566), and Middlesex (population 818).

In addition to any municipal decorations (the displays in Sims were my favorite), there were many homes along the way that were decorated to beat the band.

Some of the displays were worked all in white, some in blue, and some in every color of the rainbow. All of them were magnificent, and after a long and sometimes discouraging day, I very much appreciated the effort that so many people had made to decorate their homes. As we traveled along the quiet road, it almost seemed as though the decorations were there for our private enjoyment.

Eventually, we got back to the main interstate, I dropped my mother off at her home, and I made my way back to my own home.

While much of the day was spent in transit, I did manage to finish the cornmeal seafarer’s cap:

and with that project done, today I turned my attention to a project that is inspired by both the tree-climbing goats of Morocco

and by the many joyous light displays I saw last night.

Using Małgorzata Machowska’s free pattern (available at Ravelry), I got a start on my first goat:

I don’t exactly know where this goat will lead me, but I have my hooks, my yarn, and some fiberfill, and I intend to keep crocheting this road less traveled until I reach my destination.