Winter? Is good.

Photo copyright Aji, 2019; all rights reserved.

That was yesterday. There's easily twice that much now, better than half a foot. The land is loving it, and there are wild birds everywhere this morning. We're going to have to change our nomenclature, I think: A "hard winter" has always referred to one with lots of storms and deeps snows, but around here, that's a "good winter." Anymore, a hard winter is one like the last two, with no snow at all. Winter? Is good.

I realized last night that, for the first time in at least ten years, I'm not dreading the deep freeze to come. Every time we get a major snow, the mercury then plunges to single digits or even below zero, and it's brutal. For seven years, it was deadly, too, trapped as we were in that toxic and uninsulated tin can. I would not have had a shower yet, or maybe at all; the hoses that served as pipes would still be frozen solid at this point. And most of our first two years in the house were spent, for me, in trying not to die. We got precious little of such weather last year, but it was taking my life in my hands to go out in it, because off the breathing issues. So as difficult as things still are, at least I don't have that kind of fear riding my back literally every moment.

And things are still very, very difficult. Physically, I'm resigned to the fact that they always will be; a lifetime of misdiagnoses and outright dismissals have ensured that. But there's all the rest of it, too. For a month now, Wings has had almost no studio time, and I have had no time either to write or to push sales, and the holidays are upon us, and I'm terrified. My pain levels are still jacked to eleven today, with the severe lower back pain that accompanies hip/pelvis subluxes thanks to the ladder work. I need to make some sales, but I can't do much beyond that, because I am very literally hobbling today.

And we have GOT to make sales. And I need help with it. Normally, Wings would already be in the middle of multiple commissions in the works by now, but nothing's normal anymore. I don't know what to do at this point; I can't conjure money from thin cold air. I posted two new pieces a few nights ago (links here) and another the night after that (links here). The new bracelet in the works is turning out not to be a bracelet at all; I'll explain when it drops, which might be this weekend. He has a number of other things in process, too; I'll post them as he completes them.

At any rate, my stress levels are off the charts along with my pain levels now. For those wondering about my own health issues, see here, although now there's a new wrinkle I'm not even going to bother to try to explain (suffice to say there's no affording treatment); with regard to the work being done, some of the details are here. Thanks to my Patreon subscribers (not sure who?) who updated their cards; I'm now down only between $25 and $50 for October. Still, I'm going to need help to get all this, the plumbing and everything else, done and handled, and I can't do it alone. Folks can help in several ways, and we really need it now:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Please share everything, because I'm suddenly back behind the eight-ball on a whole additional front, and yeah, I'm scared about covering everything and surviving, too. 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.