Monday, April 30, 2018

Diving for home. Patreon subscribers, sales, and shares all very much needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

Diving for home. Yeah, you need to click on it and enlarge it see, but that's one of the pair headed from way high in front of the peaks back to the new nest.

It's also about how I felt this afternoon when we got back from a few errands. Speaking of which, it was heartbreaking, too: Up until the very end, whenever we were gone, She-Wolf and Raven would be waiting and would run out to meet us on our return. Today, Raven appeared in the hay barn, but he was clearly confused, looking around on all sides for She-Wolf. Eventually, he gave up and turned back instead of coming to meet us. He's still not eating to speak of, and he's in full mourning. 

It was a tough day on other fronts, too. I have hit a wall physically, in no small part probably because of the physical strain of dealing with She-Wolf last week, but also the other stressors of last week, a near-complete lack of sleep last night, and everything else going on with my health. Add today's winds into that, and I've been worse than useless, and very far behind on everything. So, yeah, diving for home, and I'm glad to be in where it's warm now. I'll also be heading to bed in about forty minutes, because I'm copletely wiped.

Anyway. We need sales, badly. I also need new  subscribers to my Patreon page, badly. I've set my initial monthly goal at $1,000, which will let me pay off our medical bills in just three years, imagine that (yeah, that's sarcasm, but I don't have any other options but this one). Thank you, once again, to the thirteen folks who have believed in me sufficiently to subscribe already, and who collectively have gotten me past the 60% mark. I still need a little shy of 40% to make that goal, and I am asking folks outright, please: Share the link, and subscribe if you can. Pledges made through tomorrow will bill on May 1st; anything after that will bill on June 1st. And since I have $4K worth of vultures breathing down my neck right now (okay, so it's really more like $24K, and they're getting nasty about it, and yes, this IS the "discounted rate"), I really need to be able to meet this goal and pay off as much as possible as fast as possible.

So back to the Patreon. Tonight is the last chance to subscribe for April; everyone's card get billed tomorrow. As I understand it, it hits our PayPal account four days later. If you subscribe tomorrow (or thereafter), you don't get charged until June 1st (and it pays out to me around June 4-5). So here are all the links, and the rest is cut-and-paste; please share them:
As I said last night, I've posted several recent-ish but not brand-new things on my Patreon, in addition to the three brand new ones at the bottom; some are accessible to patrons only, while a bunch are readable for free by everyone. I've got a bunch of new stuff in the works, but the last week has left me literally no time for writing, editing, or anything else; I'm hoping to carve out this week almost exclusively for that, but we all know how that goes. I'll do my best to get a lot of the new content posted as fast as I can. Much gratitude to all of you, and please continue to share the links.




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.

Monday Photo Meditation: The First Fireblossom

Photo copyright Wings, 2018; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a photo meditation for the threshold of May. It's a contemplation of the first fireblossom of the year, of love and passion and the gifts of warmer winds.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, his photos are available for purchase in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. Also as always, sales are very much needed (especially now; sales have been way down for six months, and the bills continue to mount), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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


Sunday, April 29, 2018

Loss. A gift. More vultures. More content on my Patreon, and subscribers, sales and shares all very badly needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.
After a truly terrible week, I'm hoping that gift depicted up there is a sign that things are turning over for the better.

As most, if not all, of you know, we lost She-Wolf Friday morning. For four and a half years of my life, every single day revolved around "nine and nine": That is, I had to make sure I (or at least one of us) was around to check her blood glucose and give her her insulin and her supplements and her food. In recent weeks, that's expanded to new meds and puppy pads taped over her bed and cleaning up leaks and and a bunch of other things. It's been very strange, these last two days, to get up and come downstairs and have none of those latter things to do, and not to have to schedule the rest of my days around the nine and nine. Raven feels it, too. He's mostly refusing food, even raw meat. It apparently finally sank in last night that she's not coming back, and he's grieving hard.  It's very empty.

But . . . it occurred to me over the last week that her escorts were here: The mated Swainson's pair returned for the third straight spring, and they've spent an inordinate amount of time directly overhead. I finally realized, on Wednesday or Thursday, that they gave us another gift: They have built their nest closer than we've ever seen (neither of us has ever seen a hawk's nest inhabited, much less built, because they like to keep it distant from human predation). It's across the road, but directly within our line of sight, and close enough for my zoom to get that shot up there (click on it. Seriously). More? It's directly within the line of She-Wolf's resting place, and as we were taking care of what had to be done, they were soaring and circling and going back to watch from afar. They are guardians and guides, and just as the Cooper's hawk did for Griffin, I'm convinced they were here for her as much as anything. And they're still here for us.

But last week, from Monday's events to Friday's, have left us all pretty raw. My health has suffered fairly substantially over the last week for it, and now I have to try to climb back to the place where I was, which is still far lower than five months ago. The stress continues to be heavy and harsh, and the bills don't pay themselves. Not that the collectors care; they'll kill me and tell you I asked for it.

Anyway. We need sales, badly. I also need new  subscribers to my Patreon page, badly. I've set my initial monthly goal at $1,000, which will let me pay off our medical bills in just three years, imagine that (yeah, that's sarcasm, but I don't have any other options but this one). Thank you, once again, to the thirteen folks who have believed in me sufficiently to subscribe already, and who collectively have gotten me past the 60% mark. I still need a little shy of 40% to make that goal, and I am asking folks outright, please: Share the link, and subscribe if you can. Pledges made through tomorrow will bill on May 1st; anything after that will bill on June 1st. And since I have $4K worth of vultures breathing down my neck right now (okay, so it's really more like $24K, and they're getting nasty about it, and yes, this IS the "discounted rate"), I really need to be able to meet this goal and pay off as much as possible as fast as possible.

So here are all the links, and the rest is cut-and-paste; please share them:
I've posted several recent-ish but not brand-new things on my Patreon, in addition to the three brand new ones at the bottom; some are accessible to patrons only, while a bunch are readable for free by everyone.I've got a bunch of new stuff in the works, but the last week has left me literally no time for writing, editing, or anything else; I'm hoping to carve out this week almost exclusively for that, but we all know how that goes. I'll do my best to get a lot of the new content posted as fast as I can. Much gratitude to all of you, and please continue to share the links.




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.

To Walk In Blue Skies and Warm Winds

Photo copyright Wings, 2018; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's one of my all-time favorites among Wings's body of work, a spectacular embodiment of a tiny spirit of immense power. It's Spider Woman in beautifully wearable form, a gatekeeper and guardian reminding us that it is time again to cross certain thresholds to walk in blue skies and warm winds.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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


Saturday, April 28, 2018

Honor Blues

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for a day of sadness and joy, love and honor. It's a pair of earrings that embody strong hearts and independent spirits, bound in celebration, in freedom and love and adance in honor blues.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.


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.


Friday, April 27, 2018

Pure love and joy begin their journey. She-Wolf, on her way to the Spirit World.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.
A man and his dog. Two spirits I love more than life itself. 

About 9:27 this morning, we had to send She-Wolf to start her journey to the Spirit World. She began fading Monday night, fairly drastically, and we knew then that it was a matter of not if, but when. We didn't expect her to make it through Tuesday, but she wasn't ready to go yet: She rallied, and let us know that she wanted more time with us, with Raven, with her adopted feral pup, Cricket, with her treats and marrow bones. I took the photo above two evenings ago, sitting with her favorite person in the whole world.

I imagine anyone reading this already knows the story, but in case not, here's the short version: She-Wolf came to us near the end of 2008, a starving rez pup who'd been completely abandoned to fend for herself or die (Raven, too; in fact, we think they're cousins by blood). She began coming to the gallery, and she was so loving and so fiercely intelligent; not a single command in her repertoire, but she intuited what I wanted her to do immediately and without fail, and she would sit and lie down and just generally behave. And I'd give her some of my lunch, and she'd lie in front of the fireplace to get warm. After I'd been doing that a few weeks, I learned that Wings had begun doing the same thing, and so we decided that we should just bring her home, which we did the night before Thanksgiving. We pegged both her and Raven's birth dates at roughly January 1st, 2008, so she was a little more than ten years old now.

At any rate, in late 2013, she began deteriorating, and it finally became clear that she was likely diabetic, a product of the extreme starvation of her formative months. She was more Wings's baby girl (and Raven was more my boy), but I wound up being the one who took her to the vet to be diagnosed (yes, she was diabetic, and severely so), and that bonded her to me very nearly as tightly. The vet told us that she'd be completely blind within two months, four at the very outside (but she'd already had it for at least a couple of months, so two was the real estimate). Of course, we're bullheaded, and so I buckled down and dug around for supplements to save her site, and we managed it for three more years almost to the day. Even now, she was not 100% blind, although very nearly so, but her other senses were so highly developed and she knew her environment so well that no one could tell, not even us most of the time. 

Back in October, when we first began sleeping in the house at night, I began noticing something sticky in the doorway and on the tile. The crew were coming in and out constantly, and I thought they were spilling something. Then in November I got so sick that everything else became, well, not even really an inconvenience, even when she had an accident on the kitchen rug a couple of times (although at that point, we weren't positive that it was her and not Raven). Then in late December, there was a fairly large puddle on the rug, and on New Year's Eve, there was one with blood in it. It took a couple weeks of following them around to establish that it was indeed She-Wolf and not Raven, and in the third week of January, we made an appointment with the vet.

The news was bad — very bad. Not merely a diabetes-induced UTI gone haywire; he suspected something worse, and did an ultrasound. She had multiple masses in the bladder area: transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, which under the best of conditions is a highly metastatic and fast-moving cancer. Add into it the location of her particular masses, and the fact of her diabetes, and the additional fact that her diabetes had already caused significant thickening of the bladder wall, and the outlook was worse than grim. Unless you're willing to put your dog through surgery and chemo and radiation, the established treatment is pharmaceutical, and her age and diabetes meant that the former protocol would be putting through agony to no purpose. We told the vet that we wanted to give her the best possible quality of life for whatever time she had left, and that we would go with the drug regimen: Piroxicam, Prednisone, and Amoxicillin. Unfortunately, the Pred raises blood sugar, a lot, and so we knew that the two might work against each other. In fact, the vet only gave us a 20-day scrip for the Piroxicam, because, as he admitted to us later, he never thought she'd have this kind of time left.

So in addition to BG testing and insulin shots twice a day, she now got bladder-control kibble, three separate meds, and eventually, a switch to raw meat to keep her BG numbers down. The last few weeks, the pressure from the masses caused enough involuntary leakage that every evening, we taped puppy pads to her dog bed, and every morning, we mopped up what they didn't catch. Jeff was shocked and thrilled, and told us that she'd lasted this long because of us. And she remained happy and engaged and loving her life, and we gave thanks for every additional day we had with her.

But as I said, she began fading on Monday night, and then last night, just after seven, she threw up twice: two massive amounts of blood. At her last vet visit, Jeff told us he thought her spleen might be a bit enlarged, and didn't want to talk about what that would mean unless and until we had to deal with it. I'm reasonably sure that it ruptured last night, and we really didn't expect her to make it through the evening, much less the night. We called around, though, and couldn't get hold of anyone on call, so all we could do is wait it out with her. She seemed to be in no pain, just very weak and tired, but still thumping her tail every time she perceived that we were nearby. This morning, we called the vet, and the practice owner was the one on duty (we've taken our animals to both vets there). He only does house calls on a very discretionary basis, but he did one for us back in 2007 when we lost BearGirl, and even though he had appointments later this morning and surgeries this afternoon, he came out with Natalia, the vet tech who had been taking care of She-Wolf. It was an unanticipated $200 out the door, but we owed it to her to make sure she didn't suffer.

She-Wolf has always been the spirit who was closest to pure joy, and pure love, of any we've ever known. It turns out she also has (had) one of the strongest hearts, both figuratively and literally. It took three tries; on the first, the vein apparently blew; he was worried that the second might be insufficient, and added a third dose. She felt none of it, had no pain, and was completely at peace, lying in the grass with her head cradled in my arms and Wings stroking her face while even Raven, who is always terrified by these things, came up and licked her once. She's buried with everything she'll need, including two of her beloved buffalo marrow bones.

And there is a new, 83-pound, She-Wolf sized hole in both our hearts. Also in Raven's, and in little Cricket's, who had imprinted on her as his adoptive mother.

I took this shot on the evening of the 24th, with one of her marrow bones (what we thought then would be her last but was not). I want to remember her this way, looking alert and beautiful and happy.
Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

We love you, She-Wolf. You'll never be out of our hearts.

Wings has asked me, explicitly, to thank everyone who has prayed for our girl, sent good vibes, and pulled for her all the way: thank you from him personally, and thank you from me, as well. You helped us keep her with us an extra three months, all pain-free and with wonderful quality of life, and that's the best thing we all could have gotten right now.



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.


Friday Feature: A Song Upon a Spring Wind, a Beat for a Small Spirit's Heart

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a work by a master that gives voice to the earth's own heartbeat in eminently traditional fashion. On this day, when we have bade farewell to one of our own, it holds dual meaning for us: a song upon a spring wind, a beat for a small spirit's heart.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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.

Thursday, April 26, 2018

#TBT: Hope Abroad In the Blue

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with an old work from Wings's personal collection that he only released for sale a decade ago. It's a pair of earrings fashioned as small spirits of summer, a pair of vintage-style butterflies spreading, literally, hope abroad in the blue.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As the post notes, this was the only pair of such earrings he's ever made in this particular style and they sold many years ago, but if they speak to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own. Also as always, sales are very much needed (especially now; more dunning for existing medical bills today and yet another appointment tomorrow), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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


Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Caught In the Storm, Dance In the Rain

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work of talismanic power, proof against the trickster spirits that rule this unsettled season. It's the four winds given beautiful expression, and a reminder of the lesson that, when caught in the storm, dance in the rain.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (especially now, with another appointment two days away), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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.


Tuesday, April 24, 2018

She-Wolf has decided today was not her time. Yes, the Patreon is back up. Subscribers, sales, and shares all very badly needed right now.

Photo copyright Wings, 2018; all rights reserved.
Wings took that earlier today, with what we assumed would be She-Wolf's last marrow bone. We assumed incorrectly.

To back up a bit: It's been a hell of a horrible week, and it's only Tuesday. We'll take today first; early this morning, it appeared that She-Wolf would probably not make it much past noon. I knew, given how high her numbers were, that we were fast approaching that point; when she refused even raw meat, that confirmed it. She had begun losing some motor control, too, although she has not been in any pain. Several times today, I thought the moment had arrived. And yet . . . she is still with us, and although weak and exhausted, feeling better overall than she has all day, apparently. We know this is only a temporary reprieve. She may not make it through the night; if she does make it to tomorrow, we'll have to make sure then that she's not in pain, and if she is, that requires us to make a different kind of decision. But for this moment, as I write this, she has said, "Not yet," and that is still her decision to make. 

So. It has been a heart-breaking rollercoaster of a day. To free Wings up to do all the 1,001 things that have to get done, I've been the one sitting vigil with her, and I'm exhausted. Today's high winds didn't help on that score, nor did the fallout from yesterday's events.

So, back to yesterday. Someone (presumably the same someone who succeeding in shutting down our crowdfunding site for the house a year ago with the same lies) apparently "reported" my Patreon page with a false accusation of fraud. (Apparently, they also got one of my site trackers deleted, too, presumably because they didn't want me to figure out which person had JUST been online and decided to engage in a bit of fraud to injure us once again.) It's been resolved, in part thanks to the many folks who know me and hit the Contact links. They've given me assurances that they've taken certain steps to prevent a repeat of this mess. But to the person who continues to stalk and harass and overtly attempt to hurt me: You're a terrible excuse for a human being. Trying to destroy someone's livelihood, trying to inflict physical harm (because that's what you did, and I am still suffering the physical aftereffects today in a very big way)? That's evil. I can guess at some of your so-called "reasons." Wings is pretty sure, given certain timetables and your acts within those frames, that he knows who you are, and I'll just leave your sick soul to sit with that. Because you are sick; you're what we would call windigo. I have no time for you or your pathologies, and I'm done giving you a moment's thought. 

But speaking of the new Patreon, it's here, and as I said the other day, there are three new posts up, two at the lowest level (one of which is a freebie accessible even to non-subscribers) and one at an intermediate level. There's a lot more in the pipeline, but this was all the time I had today for such things; I'll be uploading several more pieces over the next week or so. I would have done some of this yesterday, but . . . see above. I still do need to get the rest of the way to goal if I'm going to have any hope of getting this stuff paid off in any kind of remotely reasonable timeframe (and at this rate that's still three years, FFS), and I also need to raise about $4K basically yesterday to cover the immediate vultures, so I'd be grateful is folks continued to share that link around, and if you've been contemplating subscribing, now would be a good time (you're not billed until May 1st). Thanks, everyone.

So here are all the links, and the rest is cut-and-paste; please share them:
  • My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
  • Wings's site, for sales;
  • Wings's direct PayPal link;
  • A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount; another almost $400 for Wings this week);
  • Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of supplies for She-Wolf;
  • 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.
Nothing's changed on the medical front: Several bad episodes over the last week, unfortunately. Lots of autoimmune pain, lots of chest pain, lots of difficulty breathing. I'm going to be slow. I'm also going to be unsociable, because it's taking all I have to get through the day in very practical literal terms right now, and I have a ton of incredibly stressful external demands on me. I won't be around much save for posts and links, and won't be checking in much otherwise; I'll be busy chasing sales and trying to keep the vultures at bay. I'll do my best to get everything posted on my Patreon as fast as I can. Much gratitude to all of you, and please continue to share the links.




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.

Red Willow Spirit: In the Embrace of the Blue

Photo copyright Wings, 2018; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for an early monsoonal pattern and the heavenly blues that hold it. It's a meditation on the high desert skies of this place and space, and of what it means to live our days in protection and good fortune, in the embrace of the blue.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. It's two small series of photos today, and as always with Wings's work, they're available for purchase in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (especially now; another appointment coming up Friday), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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


Monday, April 23, 2018

Monday Photo Meditation: Dancing In the Blue

Photo copyright Wings, 2018; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a photo meditation for a Monday in mid-spring, when despite the unseasonable temperatures, we are all weary of winter. It's an image in the image of a spirit of summer, one that, like us on this beautifully warm day, is dancing in the blue.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, his photos are available in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. Also as always, sales are very much needed (especially now, with more medical appointments and bills looming), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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


Sunday, April 22, 2018

She-Wolf still hanging in; vultures still hanging on. Three new Patreon posts, with more to come. Subscribers, sales, and shares all desperately needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

Finally, a beautiful warm day with almost no wind (until this evening; it's blowing somewhat again now, but we're indoors). Shorts and tank tops weather. I feel the cold much more since November, and the wind is harder on me than ever, so this? This can stick around for a while, please and thank you.

Speaking of sticking around for a while (knocks wood superstitiously), She-Wolf's had a couple of relatively good days. She tires easily and spends a lot of time sleeping, but when she's awake, she's more energetic than a few days ago, getting more exercise and just generally being more engaged in what's going on around her. I will be grateful for every single day like this she gets.

This week is going to be yet another crazybusy one. Also another one with the bill collectors hounding me relentlessly, so I need to get my monthly Patreon goal met (passed would be even better), and we need to make some sales. We spent the last few days helping out some folks who really needed it (and I mean really needed it, the kind of situation that literally, in the dictionary definition of that term, becomes life or death and where there's nowhere to turn). But this means 1) that Wings hasn't had any studio time to create new inventory, and 2) we're back behind the 8-ball on medical bills, and I really, really need to raise about $4K fast, because they truly are vultures. 

Speaking of the new Patreon, it's here, and there are three new posts up, two at the lowest level (one of which is a freebie accessible even to non-subscribers) and one at an intermediate level. There's a lot more in the pipeline, but this was all the time I had today for such things; I'll be uploading several more pieces over the next week or so. I still do need to get the rest of the way to goal if I'm going to have any hope of getting this stuff paid off in any kind of remotely reasonable timeframe (and At this rate that's still three years, FFS), so I'd be grateful is folks continued to share that link around, and if you've been contemplating subscribing, now would be a good time (you're not billed until May 1st). Thanks, everyone.

So here are all the links; please share them:
  • My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
  • Wings's site, for sales;
  • Wings's direct PayPal link;
  • A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount; another almost $400 for Wings this week);
  • Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of supplies for She-Wolf;
  • 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.
Nothing's changed on the medical front: Several bad episodes over the last week, unfortunately. Lots of autoimmune pain, lots of chest pain, lots of difficulty breathing. I'm going to be slow. I'm also going to be unsociable, because it's taking all I have to get through the day in very practical literal terms right now, and I have a ton of incredibly stressful external demands on me. I won't be around much save for posts and links, and won't be checking in much otherwise; I'll be busy chasing sales and trying to keep the vultures at bay. I'll do my best to get everything posted on my Patreon as fast as I can. Much gratitude to all of you, and please continue to share the links.




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.

Harmony From the Whirlwind

Photo copyright Aji, 2018;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a collection in miniature, an informal set of complementary works that, if not precisely matched, share similar spirits. These are works that hold the powers of the elements and the sacred directions, and remind us that, in these times of intense and rapid change, our obligation to future generations requires more than chasing patterns old and new: It requires us to create harmony from the whirlwind, and find balance in the storm.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (especially now; another appointment at the end of this week, and more bills), so shares of the site links are much appreciated. 



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.


Saturday, April 21, 2018

Rooted In Earth, Touching the Sky

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work in the form of elemental forces, spirits as old as time itself and far more ancient than the imagery's more colonial interpretations. It's a sign of the sacred directions given talismanic force, a work to remind us that if we seek their wisdom and power, we can return to a truly illuminated life, rooted in earth, touching the sky.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (badly needed now; the vultures don't quit, so we can't, either), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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.


Friday, April 20, 2018

She's still with us. Unfortunately, so are the vultures. Patreon subscribers, sales, and shares all very much needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

That was yesterday: She-Wolf with her favorite thing in the world, a marrow bone. She's had a really, really rough 2-3 days, but today she seemed to have more energy again. She's got some other stuff going on today and tonight, but she's been very happy and more lively today, so maybe we'll pull her out of this one, too. She still needs all the good vibes, though.

Part of her happiness was due to having a visitor today: a dear friend who, one her way back to ABQ to catch her plane, spent a few hours with us. Some of you know her; some of you don't. The dogs both Velcro'd themselves to her, so that tells you what a wonderful person she is. Miskwaki was pretty taken with her, too, although Shade was predictably mostly cranky, because that's just her default mode.  

At any rate, that was the wonderful part of the day. The rest of it was pretty much trash, and I have the physical symptoms to show for it. No capacity for conversation tonight, and given how far behind the rest of this week (not today, but last weekend through yesterday, essentially) has put me, I'm going to have to be nose-to-the-grindstone all weekend, so not much action there, either. I have to get time to work on my Patreon, which apparently is going to mean going on strike. 

Speaking of the new Patreon, it's here. I still do need to get the rest of the way to goal if I'm going to have any hope of getting this stuff paid off in any kind of remotely reasonable timeframe (and At this rate that's still three years, FFS), so I'd be grateful is folks continued to share that link around, and if you've been contemplating subscribing, now would be a good time (you're not billed until May 1st). Thanks, everyone.

And speaking of the medical bills those funds will be used to pay, I've got $3,500 breathing down my neck right now. Still. I've got another $20-some thousand after that, but the $3,500 represents the ones dunning me most intensely right now. Forget about the next round of upcoming tests; I have no clue how much and can't worry about it now. We have to make some sales, and I need my time freed up from chasing them constantly so that I can work on the stuff above. So here are all the links; please share them:
  • My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
  • Wings's site, for sales;
  • Wings's direct PayPal link;
  • A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount; another almost $400 for Wings this week);
  • Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of supplies for She-Wolf;
  • 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.
Several bad episodes over the last week, unfortunately. Lots of autoimmune pain, lots of chest pain, lots of difficulty breathing. I'm going to be slow. I'm also going to be unsociable, because it's taking all I have to get through the day in very practical literal terms right now, and I have a ton of incredibly stressful external demands on me. I won't be around much save for posts and links, and won't be checking in otherwise. I'll do my best to get everything posted over there as fast as I can. Much gratitude to all of you, and please continue to share the links.




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.

Friday Feature: Finding Strength In the Rhythm of the Wind

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a work by another Pueblo master that gives voice to the earth's own heartbeat. It's a traditional Pueblo drum, crafted in the old way, one whose sound will have us, even in such extremes of weather and season, finding strength in the rhythm of the wind.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (especially now; more tests, more bills, more vultures), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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.


Thursday, April 19, 2018

#ThrowbackThursday: A Centering Power

Photo copyright Wings, 2018; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a work from about a dozen years ago featuring an exceptional stone and equally exceptional symbolism. It was a pendant in the form of the Four Sacred Directions, one that evoked a centering power in the embrace of the winds.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This one sold a decade ago, but if the style speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own. And, as always, sales are very much needed (especially now, with more tests in the offing and the vultures demanding $3,500 right this second), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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

  

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Strong, Steady, and Sure

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work to reconnect us to our world in an unsettled and unsettling time. It's a piece from the heart of the earth, an animating spirit of renewal and rebirth with a pulse that is strong, steady, and sure.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (especially now; more imaging tests coming soon), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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.


Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Red Willow Spirit: Flexibility Is Life

Photo copyright Wings, 2018; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for a day dark with dust and smoke driven on a dangerous southwest wind. It's a lesson, too, from trees and other spirits about how to survive it, a reminder that flexibility is life, and one of the ways to joy.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, his photos are available for purchase in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. Also as always, sales are very much needed (especially now, with tests rescheduled and associated expenses rising), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



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


Monday, April 16, 2018

Griffin, two years and countless tears on.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

This is my boy, my soul mate, my spirit dog. Both of ours, actually; he adopted Wings several years ago as his second charge. He was the kind of dog who wasn't a dog: He was always half-human, and something more besides. When we say he was our spirit dog, we don't mean "spirit animal"; we mean a dog who was, and was of, the spirit world as much as this one.

I talk to him every single day. He's always in my heart; my spirit is always with him. That will never change. He was that rare once-in-a-lifetime friend who just happened to have four legs and floppy ears. I mourned him in a way I never mourned a human being, and still do. He was an old soul, and a wise one, and he was with me for years when no human could be bothered. Once he came here with me, he captivated Wings, too.

The time was 5:00 in the evening, pretty much on the dot. It was a line of demarcation, a rift in my life that upended all the rest, and will never be repaired, at least not on this side of that line. The best I can do now is talk to him, take him water (and sometimes, like tonight, a little food of some special kind), take him cedar and tobacco and feathers and smoke, as I did this evening. 

I've never known such an outsized, influential spirit, and it's not just me. A few days ago, when She-Wolf was having trouble in her battle with cancer and the complications presented by her diabetes, I came back from closing the gate and surprised her there, where his body is laid to rest. I've seen her near there many times, and Raven too, occasionally, but this time, she was right up against the marker, looking downward as though communing directly with him. She acknowledged my presence but kept her attention firmly fixed on the ground where her alpha's body is, and she was clearly communicating something and getting something in return. This isn't entirely new; his walking on upended their world, too, and they both frequently could be found in Grif's spot under his favorite cedar tree, looking directly over at his grave as though seeking to draw strength from his spirit. But this was another order of magnitude altogether.

She's doing better now, too.

He's always been a healer; I can attest to that.

I am so fortunate, so blessed. And yet, there is a Griffin-sized, Griffin-shaped hole in my heart, in my soul, that will never be mended, not as long as I'm on this side of the line. That's true for Wings, too. And so he will always get food and water, tobacco and cedar, feathers and smoke.

We love you, Griffin. You're never out of our hearts.



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.


Dangerous winds and an exhausting pace. One more pledge gets me over the 60% mark. Patreon subscribers, sales, and shares all needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

That's before the wind got bad today (click on it for the full effect). It's bad now. It'll be a lot worse tomorrow. We've been told to expect sustained winds up to 50 mph, with gusts exceeding 70 mph. It's the kind of wind that makes it dangerous to be outside. Tomorrow will be a day to be gotten through, and not much else.

Today wasn't that kind of day, wind notwithstanding, but it was the kind of day that forced me to overdo things by . . . a lot. Our friends/clients visited today; one will be back next week with her husband. We had a bunch of errands to run thereafter, and one small bit of good news utterly out of the blue, something resolved after I was expressly told it would go the other way, and it got reversed without me having to raise my blood pressure fighting it.

It was also the second anniversary of the day Griffin left us (in body, if not entirely in spirit). That makes it by definition a difficult day for me. For both of us, actually. 

At any rate, the pace (and that on between 2.5 and 3 hours' sleep) today has left me no time for anything, certainly no editing and uploading. I'm hoping (between the weather and my own exhaustion levels right now) that we don't have to go anywhere or do anything outside the norm for the next few days, so that I can get content uploaded to my Patreon. That's the big task for the rest of the week, assuming the rest of life cooperates. 

Speaking of the new Patreon, it's here. I still can't believe that in four days, folks have gotten me to $1 shy of 60% of my monthly goal. Last night's patrons put it up there, and I don't even have words to express my gratitude. I would like to make up the other 40% ASAP, of course, but even more than that, that $599 is kind of like nails on a chalkboard. It would've been $600 but for the fees Patreon extracts right off the top. So. I'd be grateful is folks continued to share that link around, and if you've been contemplating subscribing, now would be a good time (you're not billed until May 1st); it will also get it off that weird -99 thing. Thanks, everyone.

And speaking of the medical bills those funds will be used to pay, I've got $3,500 breathing down my neck right now. I've got another $20-some thousand after that, but the $3,500 represents the ones dunning me most intensely right now. Forget about the next round of upcoming tests; I have no clue how much and can't worry about it now. So here are all the links; please share them:
  • My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
  • Wings's site, for sales;
  • Wings's direct PayPal link;
  • A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount; another almost $400 for Wings this week);
  • Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of supplies for She-Wolf;
  • 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'm still having a huge amount of chest pain and difficulty breathing daily, which makes me very slow at getting stuff done. I'll do my best to get everything posted over there as fast as I can. Much gratitude to all of you, and please continue to share the links.




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.