Two days.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

That up there? That's the cause of much of what's awful right now. Normally, it it's four to six weeks, sometimes more, between the point that the catkins open and look like little fuzzy puffs and the point at which they turn into those pollen-ridden strands of pure misery. This year? It took two days.

Two days.

That's not the only cause, though. Yesterday was cloudy, squalls circling around the mountains all day, and we thought the gray haze was just mist and fog. That's why we put down our scratchy throats and itchy eyes and breathing difficulties to the aspen pollen. And then at sunset I stepped out on the deck . . . and I realized that the gray haze was smoke. No idea which fire; there are allegedly three in widely-disparate ares a good way south of here, but this seemed to be coming from the west. You could see the smoke pall across the entire western horizon — the sunset turns it a very particular dirty coral shade that's unmistakable — and the air stank of forest-fire smoke. There's still some haze in the air here today even though the wind has shifted; it's supposed to get much stronger late today and all through tomorrow, though, and so I fully expect smog here then. 

It's still March, which makes this a not-promising start to the season. 

Two days is about all I have left [okay, maybe four] to get everything done on our taxes, too. Being able to pay them is another matter entirely; it's grim, and I'm at my wits' end. Last year was awful in every way; this year has begun with more of the same, with the added problem of a bunch of external demands on us that have drained all of our resources. I have to get our taxes done, to the preparer, and paid this week. I cannot do that if we don't bring in some really big sales this week — either a bunch of sales daily or one or two really big ones; I don't have any preference, as long as I can get it done. It's that last that's the stumbling block, because it's not depending on how hard I work at work. I can't force people to buy. And I'm out of options [but I'm still working 16 hours and day and more to try to get everything done].

I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, thanks to this Nazi "administration" stealing our money and what they're doing with it. But there's no choice in the matter, and I'm am truly at the end of my tether right now, between the taxes and the well pump and the lack of sales and income and my accelerating health issues. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

Monday Photo Meditation: Where Death Is Also Life Reborn

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for the emergence of the first green leaves of spring. It's also a reminder to acknowledge the cycles of spring and to honor the gifts of that which may itself no longer be strictly alive, when and where death is also life reborn.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. Tomorrow is April already [how? how?]. We need sales urgently now:  Taxes are due, sales are way down, there have been far too many demands on us already this year, and we have to be able to cover this. We can't do that without making a large number of sales this week. On top of that, the well pump still needs to be replaced thereafter, as soon as we can actually get someone out here, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.          

Spring weather of a sort.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Everybody out enjoying the spring weather. All the chickens are there, just some blocked from view; Miika, of course, is the only horse now. The dogs were off tagging along with Wings, whatever he was doing at the moment.

Spring weather of a sort, yes, but a lot colder today. The winds are due to arrive again tomorrow, and I've been feeling it in my bones and joints since the middle of the night. Which explains why I'm operating on two hours' sleep again, and this is not the time for that, given everything I have to get done.

The biggest is sales. It's grim, and I'm at my wits' end. Last year was awful in every way; this year has begun with more of the same, with the added problem of a bunch of external demands on us that have drained all of our resources. I have to get our taxes done, to the preparer, and paid this week. I cannot do that if we don't bring in some really big sales this week — either a bunch of sales daily or one or two really big ones; I don't have any preference, as long as I can get it done. It's that last that's the stumbling block, because it's not depending on how hard I work at work. I can't force people to buy. And I'm out of options [but I'm still working 16 hours and day and more to try to get everything done].

I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, thanks to this Nazi "administration" stealing our money and what they're doing with it. But there's no choice in the matter, and I'm am truly at the end of my tether right now, between the taxes and the well pump and the lack of sales and income and my accelerating health issues. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

New Green Rising In a Longer Light

Photo  copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork for this threshold season, with the light of the world and the life and breath it sustains distilled to wearable form. It's an extraordinary old-style cuff, big, bold, and set with a stone of soft and subtle beauty, the whole evoking the gift of new green rising in a longer light. 

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We need sales urgently now:  Taxes are due, sales are way down, there have been far too many demands on us already this year, and we have to be able to cover this. We can't do that without making a large number of sales this week. On top of that, the well pump still needs to be replaced thereafter, as soon as we can actually get someone out here, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.     

Your own personal hole in the dirt.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

When you have any number of cushy dog beds, doghouses, dog forts, and a dog run, but nothing beats digging out your own personal hole in the dirt and sleeping in it.

Pigpen from Peanuts has got nothing on these monsters. They all carry their own personal little dustclouds with them now at all times. Which, of course, means they track it into the house multiple times a day, and there's no keeping up with it at this time of year. The winds make sure of that.

Speaking of which, we have extreme wind and fire-watch warnings for today, but so far, the winds haven't gone beyond normal spring nonsense. Which probably means that tonight will be monstrous, but there's nothing we can do about that, either.

The one thing I DO need to do something about is SALES. We're almost out of time to make enough of the metaphorical kind to cover everything that will need covering by the end of next week. I'm trying, but I can't conjure sales out of thin air; can't conjure money out of thin air, either, even though I've got to find some way to do more or less exactly that. I really need everyone to share out site, and if you're in the market [Easter, Mother's Day, graduations, weddings all coming up fast], now would be absolutely the best time of the whole year to buy.

The weekend will be divided between chasing sales and getting our taxes organized and to the preparer, since the last 2-3 days have been forcibly derailed by other people onto other things that were not urgent, but here we are [which means I will have no time left for anything but those two items now]. And truthfully, I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, but there's no choice in the matter. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

Animating Spirits of Earth and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for these lands and what gives them their name, for light through red willows and the magic and medicine of both. It's a cuff to honor the animating spirits of earth and light that are n elemental part of this place, a reminder of their rich abundance and our obligation to restore it. 

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair and other emergency costs ahead and it's already the very end of March. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto a much better footing, fast, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.     

Not anticipating any rain of either sort.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Some amazing cloud formations again this morning. Today's have been less monsoonal than simply the kind that tend to herald a change in the weather. it's about ten degrees cooler today [70s, not 80s] and the wind is rising, so I suspect that we'll have more spring-like weather this weekend.

Which is to say, no mud, but gale-force trickster winds to spread the new pollen everywhere. 

And the pollen's bad. I woke up with itchy eyes, sneezing, congestion, and coughing, and it's ALL allergy. Miserably for me, that means more inflammation, which means I feel worse across the board, and I already felt quite bad enough, thanks. Chemo today, which might suppress a little of it, but it might require a steroid tonight, which will mean no sleep.

Again.

Not anticipating any rain of either sort, unfortunately, and I'm almost out of time to make enough of the metaphorical kind to cover everything that will need covering by the end of next week. I'm trying, but I can't conjure sales out of thin air; can't conjure money out of thin air, either, even though I've got to find some way to do more or less exactly that.

The weekend will be divided between chasing sales and getting our taxes organized and to the preparer, since the last 2-3 days have been forcibly derailed by other people onto other things that were not urgent, but here we are [which means I will have no time left for anything but those two items now]. And truthfully, I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, but there's no choice in the matter. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

Friday Feature: Atmospheric Gifts to Enrich the Ground of Life

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a quartet of works that celebrate the profound daily magic of gifts for the earth, those of air and water and light. It's four pairs of earrings wrought in the Indigenous art Deco style of a century past, all manifest as different aspects of atmospheric gifts to enrich the ground of life.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair and other emergency costs ahead and March is already nearly over. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto a much better footing, fast, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.     

There is no normal now.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Monsoonal patterns in morning skies is definitely not the norm for March. Of course, it's not the norm for summer, either, if we're talking about morning; those cloud formations begin to build around midday.  But we don't usually get them until June.

Of course, there is no normal now.

Not climatically or seasonally or meteorologically, not on any front. And there's not much I can do about any of it except to keep doing what I do, try to make the sales we ned so urgently, try to set aside as much as we can out of those to help other people who are worse off than we are, try to keep as many of us alive and well and safe as possible, even if what's possible isn't very much.

It doesn't help that my pain levels are increasing in an inverse proportion to my functionality, which seems to be deteriorating rather badly. It doesn't seem tied to the weather or overdoing it or anything else [although all those things apply, but I know what that feels like and this isn't that]. Which leads me to believe that this might just be the way it is from now on. That's hard to accept, but it's looking increasingly as though I have no choice.

The rest of this week will be divided between chasing sales and getting our taxes organized and to the preparer [which means I will have no time left for anything but those two items now]. And truthfully, I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, but there's no choice in the matter. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

#TBT: From Clay and Light, the Breath of Life

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT work that dates back some fourteen to sixteen years ago, and an entry in one small collection from one of Wings's long-running but informal signature series. It's a pair of old-style tab earrings, solid sterling silver saw-cut and stamped freehand, this one in a design that reminds us that our world is one of collective shelter, and that from clay and light, the breath of life animates and sustains it, and us.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, this work will never be duplicated, but if the style speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own. We have enormous repair and other emergency costs looming now and we're already at the end of March. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto a much better footing, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.         

We might get lucky.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's very warm again today; shorts weather, no sleeves, and no fire in the woodstove since first thing this morning. It looks and feels like the end of May, and that's not limited to the temperature. Those fluffy white clouds scattered widely this morning?

Have all turned into that up there: great blue-back walls of thunderheads, monsoonal patterns that we don't normally see until halfway into June.

You can see the rain falling behind the southern ridgeline earlier. I doubt that we'll see anything here, but you never know. We might get lucky.

Right now, I just need to make it rain in the other sense, because we need to get lucky on that front right now, and badly. I'm slow today, because yesterday did me some damage and my pain levels are agonizing now. Chemo is Friday, and maybe that'll take a little of the edge off, but frankly, I'm not hopeful; nothing's working lately, and it may not. This might just be the way it is from now on. That's hard to accept, but it's looking increasingly as though I have no choice.

The rest of this week will be divided between chasing sales and getting our taxes organized and to the preparer [which means I will have no time left for anything but those two items now]. And truthfully, I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, but there's no choice in the matter. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

A Place Between Earth and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for a land of otherworldly power that lives in the space of the spirits. It's a work of spectacular silversmithing, and a tribute to this land and sky in powerful form, reminding us that we inhabit a place of power and medicine, a place between earth and light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair and other emergency costs ahead and March is already nearly over. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto a much better footing, fast, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.     

It was beautiful, and terrifying.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Last week of March, and today felt like the last week of May. The "official" high was 73; you know what the actual high was? 81. In March.

The good part was that the air was nearly still; almost no wind. You really would've thought it was almost summer . . . but for the fact that the trees are still mostly bare even of buds. Leaves are at least two months off yet, at least for most of them. It was beautiful, and terrifying.

If it's 81 now, and there's no precipitation to speak of? What's it going to be in mid- to late June, our hottest point in the year?

Everything's late because today, my busiest writing day of the week, required errands. On top of a night of only two hours' sleep, not because the pain was any worse [it's always bad], but because autoimmune disease sometimes just takes away your capacity to sleep, no matter what you do. But since I had to go into town anyway, I shipped yesterday's order; we also had to take care of three or four other things, and by the time we got home, my feet were in absolute agony fro the standing and walking. I'm going nowhere for the rest of the week, unless it's to the post office to ship more orders, because that's the only thing that could induce me to venture out right now. 

Because we do need more sales, desperately. The rest of my week will be divided between chasing them and getting our taxes organized and to the preparer [which means I will have no time left for anything but those two items now]. And truthfully, I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, but there's no choice in the matter. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

Red Willow Spirit: Where Earth and Light Intersect

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for beautiful but dangerously unseasonal days that risk lulling us into a false sense of security in dark and deadly times. It's three images in a series, linked here by a single particularly apt work of wearable art shown from two perspectives, collectively reminding us of the ancient, timeless power and medicine of this place where earth and light intersect.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, his photos are available in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs and other expenses ahead, we're nearing the end of March, and as badly as this year has begun, it’s becoming much worse very fast. We urgently need to shift 2025 to a much better footing, and we need to do it very fast now, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.     

Very pleasantly surprised.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Photo-bombed by a pigeon.

Yep, that's about how I expected this day to go. Actually, I expected it to go much worse, and instead, I've been very pleasantly surprised.

Today's a marker, one that's always distressing for a whole host of reasons, many of them inarticulable in a way that would make sense to anyone else. It's been ten years, and this is probably the first year that I'm not wrecked by it. [The next test is to see how I do on Mother's Day.]

Instead, and despite the greatly-magnified levels of physical pain I'm forced to cope with this time of year, I'm functioning fairly well. We made a terrific sale this morning of a couple of his works that made it into my own list of all-time favorites, and I'm extremely grateful, as well as glad to see them going home. And the GFM I've been sharing since yesterday morning for the local family who need help getting back on their feet after being forcibly unhoused, one parent disabled by spinal injury and the other a cancer survivor, is only $165 away from hitting their first $1K. They're trying to raise $15K, which will allow them to get a decent vehicle and improve their lives beyond description in a host of ways, and if you'd like to help, you can do that here.

Of course, given all the awful that was last year, and an equally problematic start to this year, we still need to make a great deal many more sales to get caught up ourselves. My whole week this week will be divided between chasing sales and getting our taxes organized and to the preparer [which means I will have no time left for anything but those two items this week]. And truthfully, I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, but there's no choice in the matter. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

Monday Photo Meditation: An Earth That Supports and Shelters and Sustains Us

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for these early days of official spring, when clouds and fog soften the edges of a world that is capable of harsh extremes. It's also a reminder that the conditions of this eighteen-year-old photo no longer apply in these days of record drought, colonial overdevelopment, and climate collapse, and that an earth that supports and shelters and sustains us needs us to return that gift to it now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair and other urgent costs ahead and we're already near the end of March. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto a much better footing than last year, and fast, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.         

Softer edges to the day.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Gentle gray clouds this morning. They're disappearing now as the wind begins to rise, but at least for this morning, it felt like there were softer edges to the day.

There's no chance of them holding any rain, of course. The tulips are already emerging two months early, and it remains to be seen whether they'll survive, given that we'll have plenty of freezing temps, and, of course, not any real possibility of precipitation. 

We need literal rain, and we desperately need the metaphorical kind right now, too. With sales so low this year, coming on top of last year's slow pace and absurdly high expenses [a pattern repeating this year, with the well pump and taxes only the first two of many that are looming], I can't do anything but chase them now [and, of course, get the taxes organized and to the preparer, which means I will have no time left for anything but those two items this week]. I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, but there's no choice in the matter. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

The Cosmic Dust of Creation

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for these hard days of drought when a long rain of stars is the only precipitation in the forecast. It's a meditation, too, on the nature of stardust, and of the truth that we are all a part of the cosmic dust of creation.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair and other emergency costs ahead and March is already more than half over. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto a much better footing, fast, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.     

On strike.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Beautiful clouds this morning. It's actually looking like spring . . . except, of course, for all the dead trees and plants, stripped topsoil, and dry earth showing through. And when I say "dead trees and plants," I mean dead, not dormant. We've lost SO many the last few years, including whole stands of indigenous red willow. And they're not coming back.

That was late this morning, before the winds started to kick into gear. They're rising now, much later than forecast, and less powerful still than we expected, but it likely means that tonight will be terrible. Which is, of course, worse for unsheltered folks and animals that are stuck outdoors.

Yesterday wore me out, particularly having to be out in that wind. Nothing's working on my pain levels now. Beginning tomorrow, I'm going on strike: Going nowhere, doing nothing out there :: points at outside world:: until I've got this tax nonsense off my desk.

And until I make some sales to cover them.

With sales so low this year, coming on top of last year's slow pace and absurdly high expenses [a pattern repeating this year, with the well pump and taxes only the first two of many that are looming], I can't do anything but that now. I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. We still have to get the well guy out here. I still have to get those damn taxes organized and submitted, and, of course, paid, and this year has already been so damn costly [following, as I said, on a hugely expensive year last year that was perhaps our worst sales year ever]. And I've resented them a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment. But there's no choice in the matter, which means chasing sales to cover it all. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

From the Tempering Flame, Resilience

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for these dangerous times, earrings built around stones naturally manifest in the imagery of emergence from the fire. It's a wearable reminder of the need for strength and the power of resistance, and of the truth that from the tempering flame, resilience is born.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair and other emergency costs ahead and March is already more than half over. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto a much better footing, fast, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.     

It's ridiculous, but it is what it is.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

That's some of Wings's OLD work — thirty, probably closer to forty years ago. All of these conchas are hand-rolled coins, the old way. Back then, he didn't even have a rolling mill; one of the other silversmiths at the Pueblo allowed Wings to use his. Then it was all freehand stampwork atop each one.  They're beautiful, really classic old-style work. He stumbled across them a few days ago in a box when he was looking for something else.

I suspect you might see modern versions of some of his old designs soon.

It has been a day, and then some, which is why everything's late. On the very good, very welcome front, TWO sales yesterday! And so I spent the morning getting those items, plus a third order that's been in the works a while, packed for shipping. They're all on their way; then it was of to the pharmacy, which is not open on weekends, and so Friday afternoons are a nightmare. Ten people ahead of me in line [and by the time I got to the front of the line, another 10 or so behind me]. And, of course there was the ~$250 cash outlay on four scrips, two for each of us.

It's ridiculous, but it is what it is.

Which seems to apply to everything now. Which would be funny if it weren't so dangerous, but the problem is that it's all deadly. And it goes a long way toward explaining why sales are so low this year, but coming on top of last year's slow pace and absurdly high expenses [a pattern repeating this year, with the well pump and taxes only the first two of many that are looming], it's not good. I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. We still have to get the well guy out here. I still have to get those damn taxes organized and submitted, and, of course, paid, and this year has already been so damn costly [following, as I said, on a hugely expensive year last year that was perhaps our worst sales year ever]. And I've resented them a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment. But there's no choice in the matter, which means chasing sales to cover it all. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

Friday Feature: To Find the Fire Within

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a trio of works that were created independently of each other, but are just as clearly matched in substance and in spirit. It's a pendant, a pair of earrings, and a cuff bracelet, all built around a beautiful material known as tiger iron, all of them powerful reminders to us to find the fire within, and to let it fuel our actions now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair and other emergency costs ahead and March is already more than half over. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto a much better footing, fast, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.