It's going to be a hard week.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Brilliant gold on the last of the aspens in its small stand to turn, like a patch of sun. Of course, it's supposed to be a relentlessly sunny week, too warm until Thursday, and no chance of anything in the forecast.

It's going to be a hard week, too; this one always is. I hate the date of Indigenous Peoples' Day/Genocidal Monster's Day, because that's a hard day for me already, since it's the anniversary of the biggest loss in my life [30 years this time around]. It's worse in years like this one when colonial government and big business have to get their long holiday weekend apart from the actual date, so we have to deal with it twice. 

But it's already a hard week anyway, and maybe the complications from my illness will be a distraction. Or maybe they'll just make everything worse; I don't know. I've had one decent night's sleep the last week, and that was two nights ago; last night was miserable again, and I'm paying for it today. Of course, my joints are paying for it, too, but then, just existing is murder on them, so I'm not sure that makes much difference. I do wish the pain would ease off a little, and the crippling side effects. I'm guessing, though, that any chance of that's all in the past; this is a progressive disease, after all.

The pain is par for the course this year; it's been terrible on virtually every front. This year has been so slow that we're way behind on everything, including prepaying next year's taxes [that's a zero; a big fat zero]. The rapid progression of my autoimmune disease this year isn't helping, especially not these last couple of weeks. With my dominant-hand dislocations, and those in my knees and feet, it's meant that I can't DO anything, for weeks now. It's also meant that Wings has had to take over all the stuff I would normally do, and so he hasn't been able to get much studio time. And I'm so much farther behind on everything, even more than I usually am: pushing sales, paperwork, housework, you name it.

We have to make up a LOT of ground financially over the next three+ months. A LOT. And it's clear that, even if my dominant hand and wrist weren't functionally unuseable, I cannot maintain the pace or workload I have in years past. Half the time I can hardly walk, because my hips, knees, and feet are the same situation. That means that we need help with shares, and with testimonials, too. If you have some of Wings's work and are willing to have a testimonial published on the site, send it to me via the Contact form (we will list you however you wish, by name, name and initial, initials only, some other way that doesn't identify you; you can see an example n our newest, here). All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (apparently the sponges are unavailable, but the other two things I need that I can't get here are the Bar Keeper's Friend coffeemaker cleaner and descaler; we're entirely out of both [or Amazon cards, and I can order them myself]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there wll be much, much more in the weeks to come. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays will be here before you know it, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.