It All Started When a Fire Truck Drove Past Our House...

(Warning: Long circuitous story alert!)

Yes, I said a fire truck. To understand how unusual this is, you have to know that we live down a half mile long, narrow, dead end, dirt road that only has four homes on it, and we're next to the last.

Well, as I said, this fire truck comes (gingerly) past our house, lights flashing madly, and I run out to see what the heck is happening. Turns out, they're looking for a fire. Actually... a chimney fire, to be precise. We new immediately that it was most likely our neighbor at the end of the road (long story), so we pointed them in the right direction and off they went.

Being a very rural area, our Fire Department is totally volunteer. So, when there is a call all the volunteers drop what they are doing, hop in their cars and head for the fire. Tom and I decided we better stand at the end of our driveway to direct the volunteers to the right house, and I offered to take the first shift...

I know this is a long story, but stay with me here... it's almost over.

So, there I am, standing at the end of our driveway with nothing to do but wait... and wait... and wait. Boredom is a huge invitation for my muse to get working, and work she did! I spent most of my time staring at the yellow and orange and red leaves against the cobalt sky. Simply stunning! And suddenly, I just HAD to make a cane with all those fantastic colors! Luckily, Tom was just coming up the road to relieve me, so off I went and... here's what my muse came up with...

And then... not being satisfied with just one cane.... I made these...