Burnt orange.

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

Last night's sunset; the sky was burnt orange, mostly from dirt. 

And we thought yesterday was bad.

Today it was absolutely painful to be outside; 40-mph sustained winds with much higher gusts, from overnight and still ongoing, a wind chill that barely made it out of the teens, and intermittently, smoke blown in from any number of the five separate wildfires now raging unchecked across the state.

Burnt orange, indeed.

That's not all that's burnt. We mailed out two ridiculously costly checks to the IRS today, a massive one for part of this year's bill and a less massive but still absurdly high one for Q1 '22. And that was after a friend in need came by to get some help in the way of a loan, so everything's right back out the door already. Add to that the fact that my Patreon is down by almost $100 this month, probably because folks are having to use that money to pay their own taxes, and it's a lot tighter than I expected it to be, enough so that I'm still contemplating canceling my appointment at the end of the month to start ketamine therapy for pain (it's hellishly expensive, and we have to pay cash, up front and in full). My pain levels are completely out of control right now, and they're crippling me in very literal terms, but I'm not sure we can afford this after all. After the tax nonsense is done, then we can worry about how we're going to save the land (and ourselves). Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the other ladder and the Thermacell lanterns; the flies are already out, so the mosquitoes won't be far behind);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

We're still hoping to put aside enough for a new well when the ground thaws enough to drill in the spring, too, Nah, we've given up on the well. No one's available to drill before the latter half of summer, and the tax burden means we would never be able to afford it anyway. But it's perhaps even more of a good time to make a purchase, because Uncle Sam is a vindictive colonizer, and my current stress levels about paying it all are off the charts. And there's lots of fabulous work, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.