A very tough week, and it's not over yet.

Photo copyright Aji, 2021; all rights reserved.

My companion as I worked outside on the deck yesterday. She's here far out of season; her kind usually appear in late April or early May and are gone by the middle of July. September is monarch season here, not mourning cloak season.

But she reminds me of my sister, and I suspect that's who was visiting yesterday. Just a few moments to hang out and say hi, but it's something in the middle of what has otherwise been a very tough week, and it's not over yet.

As I said yesterday about the pruning and cutting Wings's has spent the last few days doing, a good dozen or so of the aspens are now just trunks, barely more than stumps. Most of those are the baby aspens right behind the house, but some are mature trees like this one once was. Virtually all of them have had limbs taken entirely off because of the damage. It's not just the drought; not even just the aridification. Once those two things happen, it makes them prime targets for invasive borers, and whole stands have already been lost to them on the mountain slopes.  We can't afford to let them get a foothold here. So the last few days have seen Wings working flat-out to try to save as much as possible. It's hard, hot, dirty, painful work.

And it's not only in the climate/seasonal context. This holiday weekend has been a mess. Aside from the continuing lack of sleep and the constant pain, there were Friday's colonizer incursion at our gate, then the news about our friends' son, recapped below, and the need to help, plus two other instances of helping folks; and then there was the purchase of badly-needed hay for the horses and the delivery thereof. Everything is stretched beyond endurance, and still the colonial population and its "leadership" refuse to do the bare minimum required of our basic humanity, and we are all the worse for it.

Four days into the month, I was forced to cut everything to the bone in terms of expenses.  We learned Friday night that the youngest son of some local friends was airlifted to Santa Fe; he contracted tularemia, which is a bacterial infection spread mostly by rabbits, but also some other rodents, á la plague and hantavirus. He had recently cleaned out an elder's barn, and they think that's where he picked it up, accidentally inhaling the particulate matter. He is very, very seriously ill; he has now developed secondary pneumonia, and as of this morning, the pneumonia is worsening. It's grim news, and he and his parents will need a lot of support in the days and weeks and months to come. The good news is that there are signs that he is improving a bit this morning, and we take our blessings where we can find them. But to make matters worse, Santa Fe is overflowing with colonizers and the hotels have jacked their rates by 300%, not that it matters because there aren't any rooms. They finally found one for the ensuing three nights, and we sent them enough via PayPal to cover the room and the taxes and fees and a little extra. Then we took care of a couple of other folks (three families, in total), and my Patreon payout was completely wiped out four days into the month. 

But at the moment, we had it; they didn't. We can't let people do without in these kinds of circumstances when we have it at the moment. Yeah, yeah, I know; colonial mindsets say you don't help anyone else when you need to cover future bills yourself. You know what? If this pandemic should have taught people ANYTHING, it's that you or someone else may not even be here tomorrow, and you sure as fuck can't take it with you. In our way? If we learn that someone in the community is in desperate straits, and we happen to have it right at that moment?  WE SHARE IT. That's how our peoples have survived the ravages of this colonial system. 

But that means that I have to bring in some sales now, and FAST. We won't make it through this month otherwise; we're already down to the bone. Unfortunately, I have an expensive doctor's visit coming up now, and I can't postpone it because my health is deteriorating too badly to skip it. There's also the flue repair tomorrow. I posted five new pieces on Sunday; selling the butterfly cuff alone would get us to October.

And then there's that well we have to drill to save the land and the trees. I have no way of making it happen.

As I said above, Wings has five new pieces that I posted Monday: three Warrior Woman pins, two absolutely incredible new cuffs. If I could sell them, or any combination of any of his other newish pieces, it would get us out of this month. If I could sell one of the big ones, like one of the belts, maybe I could get us on the drill list. But I've got way too much to do and too few hours and other resources to do it. It's urgent now; I have to push everything down to make sales, and there's always something or someone else demanding money. I am so tired, all the time.

But Wings has A LOT of new work, and I'd be grateful to everyone who shares all of it, and of course, if you're in the market, keep us in mind for purchases. After paying our taxes the last week plus some other bills, I really do need to build up some reserves to get us just a tiny bit ahead of the eight-ball of bills.

Anyway, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are all the mosquito-prevention items, especially the portables and the patio-surface ones, because Wings can take them around the land with his as he works);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And if you've been contemplating a purchase? This would be a very, very good time to do it; I've got to cover all this staggering new outlay somehow. There's lots of fabulous new work, so please share all of 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.