Almost nothing.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

When you're just a little [okay, big] white dog, and you thought maybe Christmas came early, so you went up the chimney looking for Santa Paws, and you didn't find any presents, but you did find an old wonderfully-fermented bone buried somewhere else.

I don't know what Sunny got into, but he looks like he rolled in the ash pile this morning. Whatever it is, he seems proud of it.

Everything's late because it's been another one of those days. If I have my way, we won't go anywhere else this week. [I lie. We'll take a few trips around town to see if any unhoused folks need gear. But barring the sudden need to ship a bunch of orders (haha, yeah, right), I hope that's it.]

I'm beat. This has been a destructive, dangerous, deadly year, and we all know what's looming. I realized, though, while we were out today just how bad it is here, and it's kind of terrifying. Normally, it's bumper-to-bumper, wall-to-wall shoppers and tourists, all December. Three days before Christmas? You can barely move or breathe in town.

Today? Almost nothing. The traffic should be worse, if anything, given the construction on the main drag, but . . . almost nothing. Shelves are bare of staples, but holiday foods? Eggnog, pre-made pies, turkeys, ducks, geese, etc.? Tons of them left. Almost no holiday decorations. And the real tell? I can only recall seeing one person all month hauling a Christmas tree in their truck. The tree lot by the post office? Three days before Christmas, they're down to a dozen, maybe less, in other years. It's all the giant bank trees no one can afford or fit in their house and the tiny scraggly Charlie Brown trees that are left.

Not this year. Today, there were literally DOZENS of Christmas trees left, big and small, full, lush, beautiful, perfect for any home. I've never seen this before. But it's an indicator of how bad things are out there.

It also explains why the election went as it did, with Dems yapping about how great the economy is while down here in the trenches, the most vulnerable people are losing everything, being turned out into the streets while the party's venture-capital pals pop champagne at their latest unhousing of the obstacles to their profits. Things could be very different right now, but the blame lies squarely at their door [the Nazis are unreachable, so don't even talk to me about blaming the Klan, the Dems courted that evil and left our peoples and communities to die].

As bad as things are, I'm just glad we're home, in for the night, housed and warm and not needing to go anywhere or do anything at this moment. And right now, I'm just trying not to think about what we're facing, because barring the miracle we so desperately need right now? We end this year in a hole, and start 2025 the same way. 

And yes, I know we're lucky. The housing crisis worsens daily here. On that note, in reference to the deliveries above? Also go here, buy something, or several somethings, off the outreach group's wishlist, and you will literally be saving a life, probably more than one. It's not really possible to overstate how bad it is out there, nor how great the need is. I've sorted it in their Priority order, but there are new priorities as of what they've given out today. This is from the organizer herself:

• The bulk backpacks - at least six 12 packs
• Hand Warmers
• Space Blankets
• Pepper spray
• Money/Document belts (look like tan fanny packs, worn under the clothing  to hide and keep documents safe and protected.
• 2 person tents
• Tarps

The outreach program is giving gear out as fast as they get them, and being mostly housebound now, it's hard for me to get out to pick up any before they're gone. That's why I put some of those essentials on our own wishlist, with a note that they're for the outreach effort; soon, I'll adjust those priorities accordingly, too. 

For us? THERE'S SO MUCH NEW WORK ON THE SITE. And I need to sell them all, because I still need to make a ridiculous amount of sales to cover all the stuff still in the pipeline that needs covering [laptop, roof next year AND now the well pressure pump, more medical, always prepaid taxes, etc.]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE. [Yeah, I know; I don't know why I bother, either. Hope is a stupid, stubborn, fucked-up thing sometimes, even if it's also very thin and half-broken.] Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priority is the liquid soaps and Amazon cards, probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we really need to end 2024 on a better footing before 2025 and taxes take every cent, 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.