Unnatural phenomena.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Striped skies.

And the upper third of every spruce filled with cones. both are unnatural phenomena, but not of the paranormal variety; these are all too human in their causes. The striped skies are the result of far too much air traffic, too many contrails sucking every last bit of moisture out of the air in this 1,200-year drought. The cones are the result of that drought, a conifer's last-ditch effort to save its kind by propagating an exorbitant number of cones, hoping something will fall in just the right place and be able to take root.

Of course, there has to be water for the soil, and it can't be aridified beyond its ability to nurture growth, and I'm not sure we have enough of either of those anymore.

::Sigh:: it's been a day, which is why I'm at this so damn late YET AGAIN. At least Stormy is fine today; apparently, she got into a fight with a neighbor dog who comes over here routinely, and worked herself up into such a state of panic and fear that she gave herself a case of adrenaline toxicity and literally made herself sick over it. At any rate, now we know the trigger, but it's going to be a challenge to keep it from recurring [the trigger, not the adrenaline toxicity]. So that's solved. Everything else? Is terrible.

Because all the usual issues continue apace. So does the work, our own and the vocational stuff that we have no choice but to do. And, of course, the world is still on fire, they're still coming for us all, and we still have to worry about our communities, about our relatives [both of whom are disproportionately affected by this illegal "funding suspension"], . . . and about us. Last year was indescribably bad on pretty much every single front, especially sales. This year, already a month into it, and it's not appreciably better. I have GOT to make some sales, since we've had only two so far in this new year, and we're already in the second month. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. Now we have a potential security issue, and I think we're going to have to hire someone to install a camera system here [the distance is too great for the little cheap cameras; this will require something a lot more sophisticated (and a lot more costly, natch)]. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I can't live with this level of unrelenting stress on top of everything else.

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 urgently need to 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.