Almost there.

Photo copyright Aji, 2021; all rights reserved.

That's the smaller of the two fire maples: almost there. By next week, the leaves should look like leaves, at long last. Our trees are always among the last to leaf, even the aspens, but they're also among the last to go dormant in the winter, so it balances out.

I'm hoping the rest of this year balances out. So far, it's not looking promising.

Waiting to hear the butcher's bill on the taxes; we'll probably know the first of the week. It'll be two big checks, one for the balance on 2020, and the likely larger one for the first quarter of '21. At the same time, I have to cover the plumbing repairs next week. I also have to cover non-cliic doctor's appointments for both of us next week. Mine might turn out to be extra-costly, because in addition to the massive autoimmune flare that's been bedeviling me since march, there's something else going on. I've known for some weeks that something's up, but given the complex nature of all my autoimmune issues, I don't know whether it's anything I need to worry about or not. But it's there. And it may require some expensive testing to resolve, and if so, that's going to be one more big added worry on top of everything else.

Because there's a lot of "everything else" for the year to come. that same afternoon, the vet and the farrier will be out to do some more work on correcting Miika's laminitis, so that's two extra bills next week [and it has to be done; the neglect that she endured the first nine years of her life before she came to us is the cause of all of this]. Then there are Wings's hearing aids, for obvious reasons. We still have to get hold of Pojoaque Pueblo's bison program to see how much it will cost to buy a share of a buffalo. Early research suggests around ~$2K, so we may need to crowdfund that. The thing about it is that it won't feed only us; it'll get shared with other folks. And then there's the well issue. No word on the grant funding, which I expect will be the case for months yet, and I also fully expect it to be denied, so, that will mean funding it ourselves, too, but it's clearly not optional anymore. I'm going to need to set up PayPal pools to fund all of these things if we can't make a whole bunch of sales now. It's endless, and I am so tired just thinking about it. 

We need sales. Sales, sales, SALES. That's it; that's all; that's everything right now.

The last couple of years have required us to dig deep and ante up to help others at a level we've never done before. This year? The first month and a half of 2021? Had already buried that, and we're a whole lot more "mutual aid" beyond that point now. People are suffering. And I'm going to have to do some fundraising for a couple of other folks on here in the days and weeks to come. If we had money, we'd just give it to these folks outright, but the kind they need is way beyond anything we'll ever be able to do, hence the need to help with fundraising.

But as I said about that being why we do what we do, especially now in these days of pandemic, it's become abundantly clear that too often, there IS NO tomorrow, and the only chance you might have to help someone stay alive is TODAY. Things are bad locally; no economy, nothing. We have lost SO much to 2020 (and already in 2021 including a distant relative-by-marriage we learned of just the other day, a brilliant Native artist whose death has hit Wings hard), so very, very many people, and the gifts and the talents and the knowledge and the wisdom they carried too often lost with them. People have needed so much more help than we could give them, but we did as much as we could, even when it put us in a bind, and we will need to do much more of that this year. People continue to need help, and we give it, but we're up well over $2 grand in just one week in February, and a whole lot more both before and since. 

I've got to find it again somewhere. Part of my work involves me reorganizing the Web site and then promoting the hell out of everything again. That's on top of all the other work I need to do around here, and I have been mostly useless, largely due to the recent flurry of episodes with my health. For every episode, it takes me multiple days to recover, all while hoping that another one doesn't set me back even further. That's not good. Too many people need help, and the government remains determined to see us die. There's work to do. This is why I've had to stop doing some things; there are just not enough hours in the day anymore, and I've got to make it all of this up somewhere. So:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are LaminaSaver for Miika & metal/glass/dishwasher cleaners);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And if you've been contemplating a purchase? This would be a very, very good time to do it; I've got to make up this staggering outlay somehow. There's even new work, a fabulous piece here, plus here and here and now here, among other new pieces from a few weeks ago, too, and more to come, possibly as early as today, so please watch for them and share the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.