They call their own.

Photo copyright Aji, 2019; all rights reserved.

You won't be able to tell without clicking on the image, and even then you'll have to look closely. Just above the treeline, center-left; just above the ridgeline, center-right. Two enormous flocks of sandhills, the largest we've ever seen come through here at one time, meeting up with each other. I had no idea they were here; I picked literally that moment to walk outside with my camera, intending to get shots of some cabochons for a couple of friends considering particular designs by Wings. And there was the sound, unmistakable when you know it. They call their own. Another, smaller flock came from the other direction to the northwest later yesterday, but disappeared before I could get my camera; one has been behind the clouds over Pueblo Peak this morning, audible, but not visible. 

It's not a stretch to say that their visit kept me from losing it entirely yesterday. The way my first biopsy was handled, and now the need for another one, with the possibility that the first was completely misread, is a mindfuck and a half. I was also confronted again yesterday with the fact of my utter invisibility (or, more accurately, not when it comes time to jack my words or work and profit off it, but always, always, when it comes to giving me credit earned, or even acknowledgment, or even seeing my existence). Time is telescoped rather badly for me right now, and I have none to spare, certainly not for erasure nonsense. To top it all off, we have a new plumbing leak, and the guy we want to use can't get out here before tomorrow afternoon or Monday, given that he's out of town now. No, we have not been able to do a damn thing about the damaged wall in the utility room, because of both time and money, both of which have had to go to all of my medical expenses, pretty much weekly so far throughout 2019, and with the prospect of a lot more to come. That's going to be a huge expense. I'm in so much constant pain, so constantly fatigued, and I'm not rebounding from all this well right now.

Speaking of medical expenses, next week (well, this coming week; a few days from now) comes the new biopsy: more travel, more pain, more enormous costs. Depending on what it shows (and that may not be settled for a while, depending on how much drilling down they need to do on the cell samples), there is still very much the prospect of a lot more to come. [There's also the prospect of a less than optimal outcome, but I'm not letting my brain go there now.]

And it all comes down, as always, to money. I'll have another bill coming next week for the second biopsy, and then another bill (or maybe two) for the reading of it. We have no answers yet, including no answers as to what almost killed me twice 16+ months ago. And whatever the outcome with this, I still have more testing to undergo related to that. Next goal is paying off the hospitals from that mess, which comes to more than $30K just between the two of them, and they dun me daily, so here are the links:

• My Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds) (and if you subscribe today you won't be billed until April 1st for March);
• Wings's site, for sales, with lots of new items posted;
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount);
• Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of animal and household stuff, with the kibble back on it; we gave several of our existing bags to a local disabled vet with a starving rescue dog who needed the help;
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. I've added two or three new kitchen-y things on it now, stuff that I didn't realize we'd need.

All we want, to be able to have some confidence in making it through the whole year with whatever they're going to find going wrong in my body, is to make some sales. That's it: sales; nothing else. But I haven't been able to make even that happen, and the stress is telling. Good vibes for Raven are needed today especially (he's still hanging with us, and I need him to be safe while we're out). But we all could use some, too, me most of all. We all could also use some help with sharing Wings's site (and testimonials, if you got 'em). Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2019; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.