Let the chips fall where they may.

Did you ever wonder where certain sayings come from? For example, "Let the chips fall where they may"; I kind of thought that had something to do with poker. But then this afternoon while I was working on a hobby of mine, I decided it might come from the chips from chopping wood. So, anyone else have an idea?

These are wood "chips" from my work on walking sticks. In 2004, I, my then 87 year old mother, and my daughter, went on a trip to Alaska and I was introduced to diamond willow walking sticks. I ended up buying some unfinished sticks in Fairbanks and spent that fall turning them into walking sticks. I really enjoyed that and after I hit the road in 2006 I tried to figure out a way to get more sticks to work on. In January of 2007, I went to Quartzite, AZ, and found a stand that was selling some unfinished sticks. Then, last summer, my friends Diana and John went to Alaska and I asked them to pick up some more sticks for me in Fairbanks. They did that, and I now have about 15 sticks to work on.

The stick on the left still has the bark on it, the second from the left has a little of the bark off, the next one has all the bark off and is awaiting sanding and finishing, and the last stick is one that I finished after Alaska and have used for almost five years.

So, what am I going to do with fifteen walking sticks? I don't know. Anyone in the market for a diamond willow walking stick? Let me know.

Today, at work, I went to Doeskin Ranch and walked 3.5 miles of the trails doing bird surveys. Next week I'll try to get some pictures. It was a great morning for hiking and the views from the top of the ridge were wonderful. Once again, hard work, but somebody has to do it! ;)

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy