In a small town through which we're traveling, Mom and I happen across a Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. It's just one room, and mostly honoring the actress who played Laura on the TV show "Little House on the Prarie".

The actress is there, although it's many years ago and she's grown up, gotten heavier and less pretty.

Mom's been talking to her, and she's brought out a handful of small silver objects, which she tells me are all of her tattoos. I'm not sure what she means, but mom explains: "isn't it neat that someone made little silver images of all her tattoos for her?"

I didn't notice that she had any tattoos. But I ask sort of awkwardly, " If you show those to people, then some would want to see the tattoos", as if I was not such a person, it was only ruder people.

She admits it's a problem, but we're not those kind of people, so she peels her shirt up to show us her back. It's covered in ugly tattoos, simple ones as though drawn by children in rugged lines, like prison tattoos, all over her back.