An absolute horror show.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

See all that haze?  Not clouds; not snow. That's dirt. The winds today were an absolute horror show, the kind of thing we've gotten, the last ten or fifteen years, daily in April.

It's January fourth, FFS.

And it's full dark now, and they're still blowing.

The cold was brutal, but that was the wind chill. What we should have now are single-digit temps and three feet of snow on the ground, with another storm in the forecast. 

Instead, they've revoked most of what little chance we had in the forecast for early next week.

And yes, everything's late again. Someone needed my help today, so I had blocked off a good chunk of it expressly for that, which is fine. The problem is that in the hours before that, it was one derailment after another, and here we are, me doing all of my daily work well after full dark once more. Those derailments have to stop.

So does the endless expense. We're staring down two hellishly expensive repairs sooner rather than later, plus the fact that I still need to replace my laptop, plus all the usual medical, plus the fact that taxes will due before we know it, and last year's sales were so terrible that I couldn't prepay anything. 

We need sales, and we need them now. Or a miracle. Or both.

It's endless, on every single front, and it all has to be done, and all on top of our own daily work just to make ends meet. Because if we're going to survive [and thereby be able to help anyone else]? That includes constantly chasing sales. We have GOT to get 2025 off onto a better footing than 2024 was, and do it immediately, or we're screwed. I can't go through another year like these last two, but especially 2024, and we already know we have some massive expenses ahead [the well's pressure pump and the roof come immediately to mind].

And yes, I know we're lucky. The housing crisis worsens daily here. On that note, go here, buy something, or several somethings, off the outreach group's wishlist, and you will literally be saving a life, probably more than one. It's not really possible to overstate how bad it is out there, nor how great the need is. I've sorted it in their Priority order, but once again there's a new order of priorities, not yet entirely reflected in the list itself. This is from the organizer herself [I've italicized the three that I'm told are the most urgent at this moment]:

• The bulk backpacks - at least six 12 packs
• Pepper spray
• Bulk packs of work socks
• Whistles
• Money/document belts (look like tan fanny packs, worn under the clothing  to hide and keep documents safe and protected.
• Bulk dog leashes
• XXL dog harnesses
• Chapstick
• Packs of wipes

The outreach program is giving gear out as fast as they get them, and being mostly housebound now, it's hard for me to get out to pick up any before they're gone. That's why I put some of those essentials on our own wishlist, with a note that they're for the outreach effort; soon, I'll adjust those priorities accordingly, too.  Right now, they really, REALLY need pepper spray for the safety kits, and backpacks. I know a lot of people get weirded out by the idea of pepper spray, but if you're alone on the streets, assault of every type is always a possibility that's with you every single moment, and here, we also have wild animals that venture into town [a mountain lion spent a good share of the summer walking the streets downtown, and those of the nearby residential areas] This is a non-lethal way of stopping an attack in time to get away.

For us? SALES. PLEASE. THERE'S SO MUCH NEW WORK ON THE SITE. There's also a new bolo and a new pair of earrings coming, maybe tonight. And I need to sell them all, because I still need to make a ridiculous amount of sales to cover all the stuff still in the pipeline that needs covering [laptop, roof AND now the well pressure pump, more medical, always prepaid taxes, etc.]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE. [Yeah, I know; I don't know why I bother, either. As I said, hope is a stupid, stubborn, fucked-up thing sometimes, even if it's also very thin and half-broken.] Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we really begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.