Nothing short of catastrophic.

Photos copyright Wings [l] and Aji [r], 2021;
all rights reserved.

I know for a fact that when I talk about this drought and its consequences, and about our desperate need to fund a well, people don't believe me. So, I decided it was time everyone saw exactly what we see every day now.

That photo on the left? Wings shot that last fall: On October 21, 2020, to be exact. Yes, the drought was terrible last year (far less rain than this year, actually), but the weeping willows still had leaves, and they had turned that lush, brilliant gold more or less on schedule.

I shot the one on the right yesterday: same tree, same place, but a month earlier in the season, and a year later — a year after, despite the fact that we are still in a 1,200-year drought, SUBSTANTIALLY more rain than last year.

No, it's not quite dead yet, but it's close. September, should still be full of heavy fronds of green leaves, and there are only a few bits of leaf here and there on bone-bare gray branches. On what was once the most lush and perfect of our willows.

No, really: Click on the image. Compare the two. When I say "Everything's dying around us," understand that I am not joking, and not exaggerating in the slightest. THIS is what Wings has spent every spare minute this year trying to save. Because it's not just us. It's the migratory birds, and the elk, and the bears now hoping to survive another winter; it's the grass and the water and the mountains and even the red willows. Oh, and it should go without saying that the photos are unaltered, but I know someone out there is already speculating about it, so: The photos are unaltered, save for cropping enough of the edges off to make them fit the space.

This is nothing short of catastrophic. We have to drill that well, and we can't even afford to get on the drill list.

And then there's all the rest. I still have to come up with enough to pay quarterly taxes, close to a grand. I also have to come up with another grand to cover my eye appointment, out of town, and it needs to cover not just the preventative stuff (because of the lupus meds) but the new lenses and back-up glasses that I'm more than a year overdue for (and yes, I have to wear contact lenses, and not for vanity reasons; my astigmatism is so bad that the free space between glasses and eye adversely affects my version and produces nightmare headaches, among other things, which make work impossible). Both lens and glasses scrips are specialized, and costly. But it has to be done, because I can't afford multiple trips, and I have no choice but to get the full exam to make sure the meds aren't going to destroy my eyesight.

I have to make sales in a pandemic-ridden climate where no one's buying, because no one knows how much worse all of this might get. But I still have to make sales, I have to bring in something somehow, and I can't do it alone. I especially can't do it alone when it comes to bringing in enough to remedy the disaster depicted in those photos up there.

Wings has new earrings and another new cuff coming up this week, plus the next two of the gemstone bead sets for fall. I've also already posted 4 new pairs of silverwork earrings here, the first of those pairs of silver-and-stone earrings and one complete group (necklace/earrings/coil) of gemstone bead jewelry here, a second three-piece gemstone bead collection here, and five new pieces that I posted last Monday: three Warrior Woman pins, two absolutely incredible new cuffs. If I could sell them, or any combination of any of his other newish pieces, it would get us out of this month. If I could sell one of the big ones, like one of the belts, maybe I could get us on the drill list. But I've got way too much to do and too few hours and other resources to do it. 

But there's all that new work, and I'd be grateful to everyone who shares all of it, and of course, if you're in the market, keep us in mind for purchases. After paying our taxes the last week plus some other bills, I really do need to build up some reserves to get us just a tiny bit ahead of the eight-ball of bills.

Anyway, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are all the mosquito-prevention items, especially the portables and the patio-surface ones, because Wings can take them around the land with his as he works);
• 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 cover all this staggering outlay somehow and get us through what's left of the year. And right now? I have no way to do it.  But there's lots of fabulous new work, so please 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.