Not safe for anyone to be outside.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

That was about midday. Some snow on the peaks, but probably not much, given the winds. The cold today has been brutal.

At dawn, the weather sites listed our then-current temp variously anywhere from 18 to 24 degrees. It was not. I don't know who was on duty today, but they definitely weren't looking at actual conditions. It was single digits above zero if we were lucky, and I'm not entirely sure that we were; I was too busy getting the house warm, coffee made, and the dogs corralled back indoors again to think to check the thermometer.

About 10 AM, the winds started. These were the kind of gale-force trickster winds we get in spring, and also not at all like them: Those come from the southwest, and blow walls of dirt; these blew walls of dirt, but from the northeast, the coldest wind there is, and it was absolutely deadly. And it blew pretty much all damn day. tonight, the actual temp is supposed to be one degree below zero, but in reality, it will be much colder, because they always pitch it as less severe than it actually is, and the wind chills will probably be double digits below zero.

Not safe for anyone to be outside.

Which is not good, especially for our outsized population of unhoused local folks. It's the opposite of what those poor people in SoCal are going through right now, but no less deadly. You want to know why I believe so strongly in mutual aid, in helping people, and yes, with money? Because except for those with millions and more [most of us, IOW], we're all exactly one fucking catastrophe away from being homeless, from losing everything. And it doesn't have to be a fire, although there are going to be a lot more of those, given climate collapse and this unholy drought. It can be a car accident that's the other driver's fault.  A cancer diagnosis. A gravely ill child or elder. Loss of a job. A landlord deciding they'd rather flip the house than let you live there another month.

And yes, I know we're lucky. The housing crisis worsens daily here. On that note, 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 once again there's a new order of priorities, not yet entirely reflected in the list itself. This is from the organizer herself [I've italicized the three that I'm told are the most urgent at this moment]:

• The bulk backpacks - at least six 12 packs
• Pepper spray
• Bulk packs of work socks
• Whistles
• Money/document belts (look like tan fanny packs, worn under the clothing  to hide and keep documents safe and protected.
• Bulk dog leashes
• XXL dog harnesses
• Chapstick
• Packs of wipes

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.  Right now, they really, REALLY need pepper spray for the safety kits, and backpacks. I know a lot of people get weirded out by the idea of pepper spray, but if you're alone on the streets, assault of every type is always a possibility that's with you every single moment, and here, we also have wild animals that venture into town [a mountain lion spent a good share of the summer walking the streets downtown, and those of the nearby residential areas] This is a non-lethal way of stopping an attack in time to get away.

BUT . . . we have GOT to make sales.  Now.  It can't wait.  Nine days into the month, and we have been wiped out completely, and I haven't even gotten to the really expensive stuff yet. 

I have four figures' worth of expense to cover this week, and absolutely no way to do it. If the sales logjam doesn't break soon, I don't know what we do. And none of that four figures includes the two hellishly expensive repairs [well pressure pump and roof] that need to be made sooner rather than later, nor the fact that I still need to replace my laptop, plus all the usual medical, plus the fact that taxes will due before we know it, and last year's sales were so terrible that I couldn't prepay anything. This is all just all the shit that comes due every January, and goes up very single year [truck insurance, various business and Web renewals, other annual and biannual crap that has to get covered].  January, April, and July are hell months. 

We need sales, and we need them now. Or a miracle. Or both.

Ideally? SALES. PLEASE. THERE'S SO MUCH NEW WORK ON THE SITE. There's also a new bolo and a new pair of earrings coming, maybe tomorrow. 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 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. As I said, 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 (Amazon cards are 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 begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.