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| Photo copyright Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. |
Yeah, I know, but it was so damn funny I couldn't resist. That was yesterday evening: Sunny's last hurrah, so to speak, because this morning we dropped him off at the vet just after 8AM to get neutered. He's out of surgery and doing fine, and he'll be home, all dressed up for an Elizabethan court, tomorrow morning.
The photo takes some explaining, because the dynamic is not as obvious as it seems. Cricket is still very much the alpha, even though Sunny is larger. But in his feral pack, Cricket had been at the bottom of the males' hierarchy, and KitFox used to hump him semi-routinely just remind him who was boss. Cricket took it good-naturedly, and Kit never got out of pocket with it. Then when Kit and Chinook were stolen last June, Cricket was suddenly alone, and he missed his pack desperately. Enter these two.
Sunny's been a humper since he was about ten weeks old; too young to have any idea what it means, but going at it all the same. And Cricket tolerated it, partly because he loves the pups beyond reason and indulges them almost completely . . . and partly, I think, because it reminded him of Kit, and that made him feel safe in this strange new world where he's got to be the alpha now. So last night, Cricket found something on the snow that he was licking furiously (traces of a bone, I think), and Sunny came flying up behind him and flung himself on the back end, humping away for dear life. Cricket had just looked up from licking the snow, like what the hell, dude? when I snapped that.
And after yesterday's triggers and trauma and terrors, it made me laugh, and that was a good thing. I'm still pretty weak today; monster headache, because I'm still taking the pred just to be on the safe side. As I said yesterday, tired, balance is not very good, just feeling generally off. I got off lucky. If I'd been alone? I probably wouldn't be here.
The storm has been . . . well, not even a dusting, really, although the sky is white all the way around, so maybe we'll get something yet. I hope so. It's been an expensive week, and a brutal one in other ways that have nothing to do with money. We shelled out $225 for Stormy's spaying Friday, and we will be shelling out probably another $200, at least, for Sunny's neutering when we pick him up tomorrow. We also picked up my remaining scrip today, but the supply run, which, yes, is going to cost, is going to have to wait. Why? Because with what's being threatened for this week, nation-wide, the only trips outside our bounds for next week will be the post office to ship something, the scrip, and Sunny's vet visit. It's not safe for people like us. Meanwhile, sales remain at a complete standstill. We're incredibly lucky to have been able to cover all of this month's outsized bills and expenses, including their vet visits, but at some point, I'm going to have to make it up somewhere, and my Patreon still has nearly $300 in subscriptions for December still unapid. We also paid $200, unexpectedly, for a load of wood yesterday morning, more to help the guy trying to sell it than out of any immediate need. It won't go to waste; at this elevation, we use it nearly year-round. But it wasn't planned; it was just that someone badly needed the help.
And that's the sum of what I can do right now. I have had to spend this week being forcefully reminded of my lack of value, intrinsic or otherwise, and I am done justifying my humanity to anyone. I'm also too tired for writing, so the links are below. Cold and dark, I don't care. I will not come out until summer if need be.
There is no economy now. There's nothing. People are literally dying all around us from the government's failures, and I don't know how we keep them, or us, alive unless I can cover the bills. We have lost SO much to 2020, so very, very many people, and the gifts and the talents and the knowledge and the wisdom they carried too often lost with them. Because this state has followed the lead of the country and refused to do what was required, we are about to see a very big spike in new cases, probably as early as two weeks from now; the current spike in deaths remains sustained daily. People have needed so much more help than we could give them, but we did as much as we could, even when it put us in a bind, and we will need to do much more of that this year. So:
And if you've been contemplating a purchase? Marking the birth of 2021 would be a very, very good time to do it. There's even new work, here and here, and there will be two more new pieces shortly, so please watch for them and share the links.
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
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