Completely wiped out.

Photo copyright Aji, 2021; all rights reserved.

That's the right hind hoof of a drugged-to-the-gills Miika, with about three inches off the front, a new breakover toe, plenty of old frog removal, and, as you can see, abscesses getting cut away and the inflamed laminae being allowed to breathe. Yesterday was the first time he's been able to do all four of her hooves.  It's only the first step in a long, LONG process to come, the next one slated for June 24th. And lest you think that she can't do damage sedated, she started to drop at one point, and all three of us had to bail out of the way really quick to keep from getting a hoof. She's fine. 

We, on the other hand, are completely wiped out after yesterday. Part of it's the physical labor lately, but mostly it's the stress, and in my case, I'm still feeling profoundly crappy. But things are in process. Monday, once I know what our scheduling in going to be like around here, I'll call down and make the appointment for all the [hideously expensive, cash on the barrelhead] imaging I have to have done, probably for the week after if they can get me in that fast. And then, depending on what it shows, we go from there.

Taxes came in well under anything I could ever have expected, which was incredible news (and welcome, because between the two of us, I had to pick up four new scrips today, and together they came to more than $250, also cash). We still haven't paid the vet, because he hasn't sent us the invoice yet, and he asked me just to wait and do it that way. There's the the reg renewal on the truck next week. 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. I need help. I can't fund this just with my own work, and if my health turns out to be more problematic than I've been thinking, I won't even be able to do much of that. 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 last week, a brilliant Native artist whose death has hit Wings hard, plus another person from here related to a friend of ours), 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 [she's set until August] & 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 lots of fabulous new work, and more to come, possibly as early as today or tomorrow, so please watch for that and share all of 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.