Now all we have is brutal winds.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Beautiful clouds at dawn, but they're gone now, along with any chance of anything falling from them. Now all we have is brutal winds. Even the birds are feeling it, unsettled and not able to stay in one place for long.

The say the wind's not going to be as bad tomorrow, but this time of year, that's very much relative. It's the worst weather condition for my pain levels, worse by far than any other, and it lasts for three months at a stretch now, so I'm know that I'm in for a full season of absolute misery already. Given how much my condition has worsened over just the past couple of years, that doesn't exactly inspire hope now. And of course, this stupid system in this country [it's most definitely not "health care"] just makes everything that much worse. I still don't have my pain scrip at Albertson's, and I'm ready to start demanding heads as a result.

And every hour I'm forced to spend chasing down the things that are supposed to be simply done but never are is another hour I can't spend on my work. I've got to get the tax stuff compiled and to our preparer, and then, of course, we'll have to pay the damn thing [the tax bill, not the preparer]. I also have to bring in enough to pay for digging a new leachfield as soon as we can get it done, and for paying out $200 cash every 8-10 days in the meantime until it's done [the most recent having been two days ago].  It was $250 out the door on medical stuff Wednesday, and of these four very costly scrips, Friday's was $122, but my GoodRX card managed to get it down to $49, which is still absurd, but here we are.

We've also had four now five requests for help here in the last two weeks, and a lot of it's tradish stuff, which means we can't say no. There will be a lot more of that this year, and when you occupy a [very relative] position of privilege, you have an obligation to help. I am also going to have to replace my laptop [soon], and at some point, I will need to get a wheelchair, because even suppressing my immune system entirely is not going to regenerate the missing cartilage and repair the ongoing joint and connective tissue damage that comes from a lifetime of being refused treatment. I'm still not going to be able to stand for very long or walk very far, and that is the only way around it at this point. 

But to do it, I need help. As I said, Wings has a great deal of new work on the site: the newest three listed above, plus other necklaces, Warrior Woman pins, Pueblo pins, lots of new earrings. There are two new pairs of absolutely ethereal earrings from last week, and an extraordinary new necklace in the form of a spirit messenger. Go look; there's phenomenal work on there, new and less so. An as always, all the regular links are listed below, with sales, as always, being the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (thank you beyond words to the folks who took things off our wishlist last night; we'll always need the liquid soaps and the descalers that I can't get here, the dog treats for the monsters, and Amazon and Lowe's cards [the Lowe's cards are probably going to have to go on a new fridge, so I'm hoarding them] and the newest thing at the top, a harness that will let me haul my camera around [which I have to do for our work] without further damaging my neck, now that the pain has become intolerable); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim 2023, we really need to get this year moving onto a better footing, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.