Well, THIS has been a day.

Photo copyright Aji, 2021; all rights reserved.

Well, THIS has been a day. Not at all like what we envisioned, but mostly good in spite of that.

Wings postponed a very early-morning appointment, which turned out to be wise, because by the time the sun was fully up the winds were howling at a steady 25 miles an hour. Around midday, we got a call from the IHS doc; they had a leftover dose of the Moderna booster, and did I want to come and get it? Eight days early, and not having to spend my birthday in the throes of a vaccine reaction? You bet I do. So we ran up there, in what was now a steady rain, and while I was in there for my half-hour post-jab observation, the rain turned to snow. By the time we got home, it was already white-out conditions, and it's been snowing ever since. Right on schedule: First snow is usually mid-October, and this one is already up to a good three inches or more (here, I mean; it's probably a dusting in town).

My first thought when I got the call is that here's Kaye, still taking care of me 28 years on and from the other side. This is always a half-terrible day here. It's the real date of the holiday named for Captain Genocide, of course, which means it's also the real date of Indigenous Peoples' Day, even though the pols have long since turned both into a 3-day weekend extender. They kind of cancel each other out. The other good thing about today is that it's the birthday of one of our dearest friends, except that I am so far behind that I haven't done anything for her yet. But it's still a good thing.

The really bad thing, though, is that this day, somewhere between 3 PM and 4:30 PM EDT, give or take, is the 28th anniversary of my sister's murder. Which means that on one level, I hate this day every single year. She was, after all, the only person in my young life who ever loved me unconditionally (and we were mostly separated by distance for the majority of it), and so losing her was probably more akin to what other people who are close to their parents feel when one of them walks on. But this wasn't any simple walking on; this was a bloody and violent murder, and I'm never going to whitewash it to make the colonial world comfortable about it.

And every October, I mourn all over again.

But this year, it feels as though she reminded me of her presence. Butterfly Woman: here only two days ago, a very late monarch; a dragonfly here even yesterday, and that seems somehow close enough. And it feels like she came bearing birthday gifts: a booster; a blustery snowstorm; a blue jay of the eastern variety (and of absolutely gigantic proportions), like from our homelands, the kind that are never, ever seen here. And even though she never had a chance to see this place life, I feel her here with me. Again.

Now, it's late, and the snow is still falling, just tiny crystals at this point. We've had at least a dozen brownouts in the last two hours, so I may not have connectivity much longer. o, it shouldn't be the case, but the fact of the matter is that our overpaid co-op exec seems to do precious little resource management, and everything's outdated and overloaded on both electric and Internet fronts.

And there's another one.  Come ON, people.  There's no wind now, and it's a tiny bit of snow in a place where snow is more normally measured in FEET, and the mercury's known for hitting actual temps of forty below. I'm fed up. Now I have to wait for everything to boot back up, and that takes forever, and I have so much work yet to do tonight, because I have GOT to make some sales. The expenses just continue to mount. I paid quarterly taxes last Wednesday night, and I have most of our regular monthly bills yet to pay, plus vet fees for the pups' shots at the end of the month. I still cannot afford to schedule my eye appointment, which I need to make sure the lupus meds aren't damaging my vision (and to reorder lenses I'm a year overdue in ordering). And I'll probably be knocked flat for a day or two thanks to this booster; they're only giving it out to medically immunocompromised/immunosuppressed folks right now, and so far, apparently people are reporting much harder reactions to this one than to the first two doses.

But the worst consistent thing is the constant fight to keep the land alive, and the animals, and ourselves. We need that well, and we can't even get on the drill list. Yet another tree is dying. Oh, and now? Saturday I had to order a new burner for the propane tank that heats Wings's studio, another $100 our the door, because the one we bought last year is deader than a doornail, and in this season, there will be no silverwork without heat. The kicker? They sent the wrong one. He went and filled up the propane tanks yesterday (another big bill), but we don't even know if this one's going to work. We're sending it back and they're shipping what is allegedly the correct one, but for now, he'll be without heat in the studio for that much longer.

I've got to bring in more income, and without sales, there's no way to do that. We're also dealing with the same supply-chain issues as everyone else, and at some point soon, Wings is going to have to get silver and stones to produce holiday inventory, and I'm hearing that the price is already spiking on the metals. I've posted a ton of new work by Wings: another new pair of silverwork earrings Sunday night, here, and three all new pieces here two nights ago, in addition to other recent ones here and here (one of those is now sold) and here, and here. If I could sell one of the big works, 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. 

Anyway, lupus pain is spiking badly and I've got a ton of physical stuff yet to do, including errands, so links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders, because see above, and coffee coffee coffee, which we're finding it harder and harder to get locally);
• 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 outlay somehow and get us through what's left of the year. And right now? I have no way to do it.  But 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.