Red Willow Spirit: The Flowering of Winter

Photo copyright Wings, 2021; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for the first winter weather of the calendar year, and for our hopes and prayers for the season yet to come. It's a reminder to us to have faith: in the flowering of winter, in the work of renewal and rebirth; in the cold floral beauty of the snow; and in our whole world's blossoming again.

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 will still need to make consistent sales to cover upcoming new medical costs and other expenses in this third year of pandemic and loss, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.  

Pure winter joy.

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

That was yesterday: pure winter joy. 

Today, for us, it's all pure winter work.

Of course, we lost the first half of the day with Wings's dental follow-up, which didn't go well. It took forever (no fault of the dental technician who did her absolute meticulous best with what the lab had sent her), the office was ice-cold, the chair miserable, and in the end, he can't wear them because they need whole new impressions. So.

Back home, and he's back plowing the snow again. He has a system whereby he first creates walking paths and tracks and a way to get the truck out; then he turns to plowing the rest, shoving massive snowbanks up against the base of the trees, like what you see above.  The purpose is two-fold:  First, the plowed areas, which are where we tend to need to walk, melt first and dry first; second, the big banks take days, usually weeks, to thaw completely, and so as they thaw the water slowly trickles into the root systems of the trees without overwhelming it. It's part of why we've managed to save most of ours; because he does this every time.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get caught up on things that I had to let slide with the pressures of the holidays. New calendar year, but no signs that the country is going to do a single thing to get us out from under the death sentence it so gleefully seems determined to enforce. But this is our most expensive month of the year (followed very closely by July; I'm not even including April, which is tax month, in all of this). So while we had a far better holiday sales season than I could ever have hoped, we still have to keep the cycle going. This is our livelihood, after all, and there's a lot of expense ahead, medical and otherwise (and this has to be the year the drill the well because there's no other option at this point; "first thing," indeed).

So, as always, it comes back to that: more sales. A lot more, because we have two years' worth of a shattered pandemic economy to make up for, by which I mean we need to gain more ground ourselves financially to be able to be sure of making it through the winter and the rest of the year. I've posted a ton of Wings's new work lately, and there will be more in the days and weeks to come. If I could sell one of the big works, like one of the belts, maybe I could get us on the drill list for the well that is the only thing that's going to keep this land alive. But I've got way too much to do and too few hours and other resources to do it. Which means that I'll be stepping back significantly in terms of my online presence, because there's just too much else to do, and I am no longer well enough to maintain the kind of pace I once did.

So, since we have to continue to make sales, so links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders);
• 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 twelve whole months of a new year, plus put aside enough for a new well when the ground thaws enough to drill in the spring. And 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, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.   

Monday Photo Meditation: The Heavy Burden of Medicine

Photo copyright Wings, 2022;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a photo meditation for the first Monday, and first snow, of the new calendar year. It's an image, too, to remind us that what our world needs often requires us to bear its weight, but that the heavy burden of medicine is also one of healing, and thereby one of beauty, too. 

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 will still need to make consistent sales to cover upcoming new medical costs and other expenses in this third year of pandemic and loss, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.   

Dangerously cold.

Photo copyright Aji, 2022;
all rights reserved.

Haven't uploaded any of today's photos yet; this was early yesterday. And despite the weather, lots of tiny birds around: juncos and chickadees and red finches, of course, but also the goldfinches, who are here long out of season and way off their migratory path now. They're children of May, and pretty much only May (sometimes into early June), but climate change has made their usual patterns so problematic that this particular clan has chosen to ride out the deep freeze with us.

The elk were here overnight, too, and this time, some of the giant adult males accompanied them. They didn't do any damage, just ate what was accessible and vanished as quietly as they came, but they did seem to be communicating with the horses through the ProPanel fence. This is the time of year when they typically come, when it gets dangerously cold, and last night was no exception: It got down around ten below in the early morning hours; no idea what the final number was. By 7 AM, it was up to -4, actual temperature, with a wind chill of -18. We've finally passed the +20-degree mark, and Wings is outside plowing the areas he didn't have time to get yesterday.

And I'm indoors stoking the fires and trying to get caught up on things that I had to let slide with the pressures of the holidays. New calendar year, but no signs that the country is going to do a single thing to get us out from under the death sentence it so gleefully seems determined to enforce. Meanwhile, this is our most expensive month of the year (followed very closely by July; I'm not even including April, which is tax month, in all of this). So while we had a far better holiday sales season than I could ever have hoped, we still have to keep the cycle going. This is our livelihood, after all, and there's a lot of expense ahead, medical and otherwise (and this has to be the year the drill the well because there's no other option at this point; "first thing," indeed).

So, as always, it comes back to that: more sales. A lot more, because we have two years' worth of a shattered pandemic economy to make up for, by which I mean we need to gain more ground ourselves financially to be able to be sure of making it through the winter and the rest of the year. I've posted a ton of Wings's new work lately, and there will be more in the days and weeks to come. If I could sell one of the big works, like one of the belts, maybe I could get us on the drill list for the well that is the only thing that's going to keep this land alive. But I've got way too much to do and too few hours and other resources to do it. Which means that I'll be stepping back significantly in terms of my online presence, because there's just too much else to do, and I am no longer well enough to maintain the kind of pace I once did.

So, since we have to continue to make sales, so links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders);
• 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 twelve whole months of a new year, plus put aside enough for a new well when the ground thaws enough to drill in the spring. And 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, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.  

Tall and Straight and Reaching For the Sky

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a seasonal work that reflects our current weather perfectly, and reminds us of our obligations in this new year. It's a pin in the form of an evergreen spirit, the alpine fir, showing us that this is the time for us to stand up, tall and straight and reaching for the sky, unbowed still by the burdens of the year to come, and to make this world reborn a better one than the last.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We will still need to make consistent sales to cover upcoming new medical costs and other expenses in this third year of pandemic and loss, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.     

First thing.

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

That was first thing this morning, taken through the bedroom window. The snow has stopped now, for the moment, and we've got eight to ten inches of accumulation. Wings has already swept the upstairs deck and now he's out plowing paths for us to be able to walk, and drive, and haul hay and wood and so forth.

And in the time it took to write that, the snow has started back up again. They said it was supposed to begin closer to 3 PM, but the winds are rising, and now we have both renewed storm and intermittent ground blizzard.  We'll have over a foot by the time we're through, then the deep freeze tonight, with actual temps slated for seven below zero, which, here, means they'll actually be at least -10; they always underestimate both highs and lows by a good margin here.

New calendar year, but no signs that the country is going to do a single thing to get us out from under the death sentence it so gleefully seems determined to enforce. Meanwhile, this is our most expensive month of the year (followed very closely by July; I'm not even including April, which is tax month, in all of this). So while we had a far better holiday sales season than I could ever have hoped, we still have to keep the cycle going. This is our livelihood, after all, and there's a lot of expense ahead, medical and otherwise (and this has to be the year the drill the well because there's no other option at this point; "first thing," indeed).

So, as always, it comes back to that: more sales. A lot more, because we have two years' worth of a shattered pandemic economy to make up for, by which I mean we need to gain more ground ourselves financially to be able to be sure of making it through the winter and the rest of the year. I've posted a ton of Wings's new work lately, and there will be more in the days and weeks to come. If I could sell one of the big works, like one of the belts, maybe I could get us on the drill list for the well that is the only thing that's going to keep this land alive. But I've got way too much to do and too few hours and other resources to do it. Which means that I'll be stepping back significantly in terms of my online presence, because there's just too much else to do, and I am no longer well enough to maintain the kind of pace I once did.

So, since we have to continue to make sales, so links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders);
• 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 twelve whole months of a new year, plus put aside enough for a new well when the ground thaws enough to drill in the spring. And 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, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

In the Elemental Spiral of Rebirth

Photo copyright Aji, 2022;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work (and perhaps a wish as well) for the path and growth of this new young year to come. It's a pair of earrings manifest as storm and fire, both cleansing medicines the world and we need now, in the elemental spiral of rebirth.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We will still need to make consistent sales to cover upcoming new medical costs and other expenses in this third year of pandemic and loss, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.