Fallout.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

Welp, this has been a week. I haven't even had time to download yesterday's photos, so this is from three days ago, because it looks most like what we'll have later today. the patches of snow are shrinking by the day, although we're supposed to get more again this next week, possibly as early as tomorrow night, because winter's coming back for a few days. I'm ready for the warmth now, but I'd rather just skip the dance and have full-on summer, thanks. We don't have to deal with the pollen and wind and mud that way.

Yesterday, we discovered one bit of fallout from the pandemic that we weren't expecting: a plugged toilet that took pretty much all day to fix (which means, natch, that I got almost nothing done on the tax stuff, so today and tomorrow are it instead of what I'd rather be doing, which is sewing masks). It was not what you might expect. Thanks to the impending shortages that we saw coming before they actually hit, we ordered a small case of toilet paper from one of these other suppliers, in case worse came to worst and we were literally locked down for weeks on end. We're not, but it turns out that there's not a single roll of either toilet paper or paper towels anywhere in town now, so it seemed like a good decision. Except . . . . Yes, I always check to make sure these off-brands are septic-safe. And this, made from bamboo, was advertised as exactly that. So far, so good. They're tiny rolls compared to the Scott we normally use, but also much, much thicker, and you use only a fraction as much as a result. Also so far, so good.

What we didn't factor in, nor, apparently, has the manufacturer, was low-flush toilets. When we built the house, we bought (or, rather, redeemed Lowe's cards for) low-flush toilets in an effort to conserve water and be more environmentally sound. They've been wonderful; no complaints. BUT . . . it turns out that with the thickness and density of the bamboo toilet paper, the low-flush volume of water is not sufficient to force it all the way through the piping system to the septic tank. So for the last 2-3 weeks, it's been slowly gathering, a little at a time, near the farthest cleanout, accreting and compacting until yesterday, it finally shut off the pipe entirely, and the downstairs toilet backed up accordingly.

We couldn't even get a decent snake for it. The local hardware joint down the road was CLOSED (Good Friday, which hadn't even occurred to us), and the nearest local Ace? They had one . . . and also an hours'-long wait to get in because the line was way out the parking lot. Apparently Ace is enforcing social distancing among its franchisees, even if nobody else is. Fortunately, Wings had called first to see whether they even had one, and the staffer on the phone warned him about the wait, so we went with our old, old rusted gigantic snake from our days in the RV. Between snaking it and the cleanout and plunging repeatedly every little while, we finally got enough air in the clog to move it the rest of the way, and it's all fine. And we'll be giving the rest of the bamboo toilet paper to someone who can use it without effing up their plumbing.

The other bad news was that from Monday and Tuesday, out of other Pueblos with regard to COVID-19. State-wide, we passed the 1,000-case mark yesterday (102 new cases, and a total confirmed county of 1,091), in a state of =/- 2 million people overall. Disproportionately affecting Indigenous people now. No Indig numbers locally, but also precious little testing. We have been formally isolating ourselves for twenty-five days (and informally before that), and while Wings has been out a few times for scrips and mail and supplies, I've managed to limit my own going out to exactly one day out of that 25. I will have to go out Monday to the post office and to drop off our taxes to the preparer, and that will be only my second foray outside in 27 days at that point. We are taking this far more seriously than most of the county, because we know that as Indigenous people who are invisible to everybody, including those tracking this thing statistically, we have to; nobody's interested in saving us.

The rest is mostly cut-and-paste. There's a little in it that's new, and yes, I would LOVE to sell today's featured works on his site, too, as well as tomorrow's, because that wold get us through this to the other side, take care of the taxes, and let us help other folks out (and there are already those we can see we're going to have to help, as I mention briefly below).

As I've said, it's entirely possible, given what's going on outside our own boundaries right now, that the world might not make it to summer, at least in any form that we recognize. It's also entirely possibly that we personally might not make it through the year, given the way the pandemic has ground our already-low sales to a near-total halt. We have shelled out SO much this year — on getting ready for what is eventually going to be a formal quarantine situation (yes, it is, and people need to get their heads around that now), on medical expenses, on helping out other folks — that I don't have any confidence in being able to get through the second half of this year. Or even into summer. Right now, I'd like to bring in enough to recoup the $5K+ we had to lay out on all those things and more (we helped a whole bunch of folks with cash to the tune of an absolutely unholy amount, but when it's a matter of shelter and food and basic survival, what are we supposed to do, say no? we can't). That said, on Wings's site this week I'm featuring some of his most valuable masterworks, and if we could sell them all? We'd be good into 2021, and be able to continue helping out folks here, too. And there's one family here, at least, that we already know needs whatever help we can give them next week.

But about the can't say no part? Here's why (and we saw this coming in January):

Everything here is canceled, and as of last Wednesday, there's a curfew in effect in town. No one (excluding "essential personnel," obviously) allowed outside between the hours of 10 PM and 6 AM. And it needed to happen, because at 33.4%, we have the highest per-capita ratio of the entire state, and people are still not taking it seriously. We have 14 confirmed cases in Taos County, but that's going to rise over the next two to three weeks. A LOT. Where last week they were projecting more than 500 deaths state-wide from this, that has now been revised drastically upward, to MORE THAN 3,000 DEATHS over a 12-month period. At any given moment, our state-wide population hovers just below or just above 2 million people total. For us, that's HUGE.

And all of this presents long-term problems for us, and for a lot of folks. The whole economy of this county is based around tourism, and the reality for Indigenous folks here is that there will NO economy for us, none at least for the duration of the summer, and at this rate?  Probably not all year. No tourism, no art markets, no ability to sell. Most of our clientele has moved to online patronage now, so we are hit less hard than most. But the four sales we've had so far this year? That might be all we get. We'll be fine for a while, having stocked up on food and supplies and firewood and so forth. But the bills still have to get paid, and honestly? If we don't start making some sales consistently soon, I don't know how we survive the year. I sure as hell don't know how some of these other folks survive it, especially if we can't help them. 

Also, and not coincidentally, about that helping part: My filter fabric is supposed to be in this week, and once the taxes are off my desk, I'll be rocking on making masks for local folks. The need is . . . astonishing in its scope. Literally everybody I talk to (via phone/e-mail, because yes, social distancing) needs them. And I'm going to be making them and giving them away, no charge whatsoever, for as long as necessary. And I will run out of fabric very soon. To that end, if folks want to donate to my fabric fund so I can keep making masks (because health-care folks here don't have them, nor do people working every day in essential agencies, never mind the lack of availability for our Indigenous elders), hit the PayPal link below and specify "masks" or "fabric."  I guarantee you that every penny will go into fabric for masks (and/or related supplies, at the point that I begin to run out of thread, bias tape, filter fabric, whatever), and only for that. Fifty dollars donated yesterday is today going into fifty dollars' worth of fabric, ordered online so that maybe it'll arrive just about the time I run out of my current stash. It's no wonder nobody's wearing them here; they can't get them. And I can change that.

Also over the course of this week, I'm going to be featuring, on his site, some of his most valuable (and highest-priced) works. If we could sell them all, we could sock 90% of it into savings and be assured of making it through the rest of the year and into the next, barring disaster. I don't actually have any real hope of doing that, but if you're one of the folks who's been looking at these works and thinking that someday you might want to invest the money in one or more? Now would be the time; it would help ensure our survival through this pandemic and likely to the first of next year, and help us to be able to help other folks in our community here who are going to need it badly. So please, this week especially, share all of our links, because while we're all in isolation? Income is already at virtually nothing, and we can survive the isolation, but not the inability to feed the maw of all the bills. The links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Note: For now, please don't buy anything off the Amazon wishlist; to do so would be crossing a picket line, and some of their workers have struck this morning to fight for safer working conditions because their lives are being put at even greater risk during this pandemic. If you find one of the items elsewhere, wonderful (I found a lovely convection bread machine with a GF setting via Crate and Barrel online, but I can't justify the cost, at least not now; we haven't had anything like the kind of sales that would permit that), but for the duration of the strike, please don't buy anything off the list from there. That said, if you can find Wings's KT tapes anywhere else?  He uses those virtually every day, and we're almost out; that would save us having to go out and buy them locally, in person and at higher cost. 

Other than that, please share everything. Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.