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| Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. |
He's so lonely. What a terrible, terrible summer.
Cricket cries to me every night, missing his sibs. He's lost more than any dog should ever have to, his whole pack, over and over and over again. Eight pack members to various ends, and he's only three. He's still in the throes of PTSD from the terrible abuse he suffered as a puppy, so we can't actually get any more than two or three feet from him (usually). But he loves us, loves his home, misses his pack, and won't let us out of his sight.
So when we left yesterday morning to go look at potential little sibs for him, he tried to follow us. Wings had to go get him a bone to occupy him so he could get out the gate and get it locked without him following. And the trip to visit the pups was . . . an experience; lost along unmarked dirt tracks way back in the middle of nowhere with ruts a foot deep, no shade anywhere, in hundred-degree heat. It must be a nightmare in winter. But the puppies trusted us immediately, and they'll be [just] old enough to come home in 3 weeks, so August first, two or three of them are coming here instead of being sent to the shelter to wait and hope for someone safe to come along.
It'll be the only good thing out of this godawful summer so far.
The drought is killing us. The pandemic is killing us more. I'm up against the wall, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it. As I said yesterday, things are frankly desperate, and I don't know what to do.
I paid our first quarter taxes out of my Patreon, which basically wiped it out. I have to pay the second quarter by Wednesday, and I can just do that, thanks to the sales that have come in this weekend (and I am profoundly grateful to each and every one of you who bought something, or shared links, or otherwise boosted us). We also got another of biannual bill in the mail Friday, one I forgot about. January and July suck, because some stuff comes due in those months that we can forget about the rest of the year. So while the taxes are now finally covered, there are still all the OTHER things to pay for this month. We've jettisoned everything we can: We bumped reseeding to winter, which turns out to have been a good move, because this drought would kill it all. The well? There's no way we can get in August's drilling queue. None. I've given up on that. I don't know whether we'll be able to do it before next year; if we can't, we can't reseed, either, and probably can't plant again in the spring. Plumber's canceled, again. Chimney cleaners are canceled. Medical appointments? Oh, that's funny. NOPE. Nothing else gets done until I get this month covered, and I'm still $1,500 out from being able to do even that.
Why is it so bad? Beyond the biannual stuff, this year has been absolutely hellish for everyone. We have had multiple deaths in our community, and folks who've needed help because of it (at least five or six that I can think of off the top of my head). Folks with a house fire. Others with family illnesses. Everyone needing help because of the pandemic; so many out of work, jobs not coming back, no tourism at the Pueblo for those who are artists to make sales there, because it's closed (and rightly so, but that doesn't help the folks who can't pay the rent as a result). We thought we'd be able to help with food from the gardens, but the drought has killed that, too. But when folks need help, and you have it, you give it however you can. [Meanwhile, infection rates are spiking state-wide, and tourists are coming in in droves, not to buy, but to "escape" and in the process infect everyone in the county. MORE THAN EIGHT HUNDRED OUT-OF-STATE VEHICLES FRIDAY NIGHT. They have to block the roads, and they're not doing it.]
WE. NEED. SALES. BADLY. New piece just the other morning, here. Lots of other new works, too, cuffs and earrings and one new necklace. So please. Share the links; they're here:
[Also, the wishlist is back in force. There are things I absolutely cannot get except through Amazon, and I can't add that stress onto all the others now. It's breaking me.] Please share everything. Thanks.
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
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