Fangs and claws, and floppy ears and tails. No way to get through the winter without sales, so shares are desperately, desperately needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

Crow, left; Cricket, right. Yes, the ear mostly stays like that. A couple of weeks ago, they were the exact same size, which is to say, all bones. Crow is now visibly larger, thanks to solid weeks of meals. Cricket is larger than he was, and healthier-looking, too, after only a week of food. He's also losing his fear, and these two spent almost the entire morning romping in the thin rime of snow in the fields. Coyote was there, too, albeit out of camera range, and the other dogs showed up early this afternoon for Wings to feed them.

They'll never leave now, but they're living beings, and we can't leave them to suffer and starve.

Yesterday was absolutely hellish, with winds gusting above the 50-mph mark. Today the winds were better, but not by much, and much colder than yesterday. Where my autoimmune disease is concerned, I've learned to adapt to cold and heat and humidity (which is to say, I put up with it and ignore it as much as possible), but wind is completely intractable. It jacks my pain levels exponentially, and now, with this . . . whatever it is, it makes breathing increasingly difficult. I spent most of the night on oxygen again, and tonight will probably be more of the same.

All this is by way of noting that my energy reserves are entirely gone for this day. We do need sales. Badly. Without them, we have no way to get through the rest of the winter, since this year, we have no reserves from holiday sales. Yes, l'm scared. The rest is cut-and-paste. 

Again, if you're thinking about donating, DON'T. Give it to Bobby to help get Don Feliberto back into a real home. Here's the latest update. We know what it's like not to have one; we have one now, and donations need to go there to get this elder safe again. I posted a second piece at my other site a couple of nights ago about Bobby's efforts in Puerto Rico, including his adoption of Don Feliberto to get this abandoned elder into safe space again. That will tell you what he's up against, and my e-mail's in my Blogger profile here (or you can DM at Twitter/FB); hit me up for his addresses if you want to contribute, either cash (most needed) or household and other items, some of which you can purchase outright via the Amazon Wishlist Bobby's set up here. He's added a bunch of new items, all badly needed, and I can testify to the fact that need for the power cords, the tools, and the solar lights and equipment is probably exigent at this point. That said, when you're in a situation like Don Feliberto is, it's amazing how wonderful clean clothes and good coffee can make you feel, too.

What we need are SALES. Please. Spread the word. Valentine's Day's gone, but people have birthdays, anniversaries, I-love-you days; there'll be other holidays and seasons coming up before you know it. Please spread all of our links around on FB and Twitter and other social media, via e-mail and word-of-mouth, to your family and friends and colleagues and whoever. The O2 issue is now solved, but there are all the ongoing regular expenses, the astronomical medical expenses, and of course, someday we'd like to be able to get the house finished. I have no hope of that happening anytime soon; I don't know how we're going to get through the rest of this winter, given current circumstances. So here are the links: 

• Tonight's post elsewhere (a warning on a day when winter itself is predatory);
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to She-Wolf's & my medical bills);
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• Wings's site, for sales;
• Wayfair gift cards, to replenish all the furnishings that the RV has destroyed in one way or another.
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. There are new kitchen-y things on it now, stuff that I didn't realize we'd need to replace (either because the RV ruined it or because we gave it away when we had to downsize).
• Partial registry #2, from Wayfair. There are some things left on both registries that I thought by now I might be able just to buy outright, but medical bills (mine and She-Wolf's both) have to come first.

I've been trying to find some sort of accommodation with this oh-my-god-you're-going-to-die thing that keeps happening, which is to say, every time it crops up, I smack it ruthlessly back down and force myself to sit and breathe through it. It's not working. I'm doing it regardless, but these recent episodes are terrifying. We need, also, to get free of some of this crushing stress, and I don't see that happening as long as I have to spend every day scrabbling (mostly unsuccessfully) for whatever sales we can make. Closure's imminent, and I see no way to get through it now. In spite of it all, though, thanks, everybody, from both of us, for everything. I don't know about tomorrow, but at least today I got to see the dawn, and I got to play with puppies.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.