Waiting for winter now.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

The colors are lasting an amazingly long time this year, even at the higher elevations. Normally, all those gold patches at the top of the peaks would have gone brown and gray by now.

Of course, that's mostly due to the unseasonal heat, or more precisely, the lack of a genuine hard freeze. But now, we should have had several, as well as a decent amount of snow on the ridgelines, and we've had neither of those things. It's supposed to cool off a bit in the coming week, but it'll still be 20 degrees too warm.

We're waiting for winter now . . . if we actually get one. It's not that we're trying to rush the seasons at all; we just need some snow, and we need it badly.

And for now, as yesterday, I have a ton of today's work to get through yet, so the rest is cut and paste. I really need to bring in at least one sale today. I said that yesterday and didn't manage it, birthday or no. I need to change that today. A little later, I'll have Wings's three newest works, rings all; they're all more masculine in size, with some amazing focal stones, so watch for them, share them, and if you know someone who needs one [or the medicine of any of his other work], buy.

But it's still my birthday weekend, and this is what I want : to get Frank fully funded. His fundraiser has been stuck for three days now at the $1,228 mark, and that's great but it's not nearly enough. Details immediately below.

Some of you are already familiar with Frank Rain Leaf's work; you've bought his paintings or received cards from us with his prints on the front. He's an incredible artist. But it's hard to do your life's work when you're hospitalized, and we didn't know it, but that's where his been for a good while. Today he had to travel to Santa Fe for more tests, and yeah, it's an easy enough trip when you're young and healthy, but for the rest of us? Not so much. He hasn't been able to work, and depending on what comes out of these tests and whatever else they do, who knows how long it'll be before he can again. The medical establishment doesn't care; they'll keep billing anyway, as will the utilities and everyone else. He needs some breathing room so he can focus on getting well.

That's where all y'all come in, too. Thursday, we gave him what we could to help cover gas and food and lodging for his travel today. We don't have the kind of money [especially not after this god-awful year] to fund what he'll need thereafter. He doesn't have a GFM or any other means to do it himself, so we're raising funds for him.  The goal for yesterday was $1K, for immediate bills and needs, and I would love to bring in $5K overall so he has some breathing room while he recovers [and we beat it!]. Since I posted this yesterday, we've managed to raise a little over $1,200 through our PayPal account, and we're asking everyone we know who can [not if you're not able; only if it won't harm your own situation] to give, too.  Here's our direct PayPal link.  Please put "FOR FRANK" in the notes section. [Anything that comes in today goes to him; I'll just assume folks forgot to include it. The only reason I want it specified is so that come next year, we're not paying taxes on pass-through gifts to someone else.]

Now, all the rest. None of this means that I'm not pushing sales; we need them badly, especially after giving what we could to him this morning. And I'm slower than ever because of my illness; everything takes me so much longer. I mean, everybody already knows that this year has been terrible on virtually every front, so much so that we're really up against it now. 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]. I'm so much farther behind on everything, even more than I usually am: pushing sales, paperwork, housework, you name it. I did at least get his two newest works up here the other night, so there's that. They're both amazing, but the turtle is something truly extraordinary. If I could sell that this week, I could quit worrying at least until November. 

But there's a big difference in being able to buy Wings's work and being able to kick in $5 or $10 or $20 or whatever to help an elder out.

Still. We have to make up a LOT of ground financially over the next three+ months. A LOT. I need to bring in at least one sale a week, preferably two, for the remainder of the year. And it's clear that my illness's progression means that I cannot maintain the pace or workload I have in years past. 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 in our newest, here, and with luck, I'll have a second one up by tonight). All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (liquid soaps are priority now [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 will 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.