Eight years on, Hunter waits again for Cree.

Photo copyright Wings, 2017; all rights reserved.

The markers come more and more frequently now. As of two nights ago, we have a new one, Cree have departed to join those already gone ahead.

Like Hunter.

Late this afternoon marked the eighth year since she left us far too soon. She was pure joy, pure love, and there is not a day that goes by that I don't feel the hole in my heart left by her loss. Wings, too; she was his before she was mine — or, more accurately, he was hers before I was hers, too — but she adopted me literally on sight. 

A few hours ago, I put cedar out where her ashes were scattered, and some tobacco and sweetgrass, too. I have wept so many tears this week for so many reasons, and yet, there are always more.

We love you, Hunter. Watch for Cree; she's on her way to all of you now.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Stardust and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

And I know this is the love medicine that she carries, a bundle amassed over near-twenty years, one that she bears on her journey across the sky:

Stardust and light.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Friday Feature: Love, Beyond Price

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a small work that embodies a pair of topics that have been much on our minds this week. It's an expression of love and value that takes the form of the horse — for us, love beyond price.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Kindness from a stranger. Shares needed.

Mostly cut and paste tonight; yesterday and today have wiped us both out.

Briefly, for those wondering about Cree: Obviously, burial had to wait until today. The guy from the feed store down the road showed up around 10 AM or so; he has a backhoe with a front loader, and he had it loaded on a gigantic flatbed. He dug the grave out in the south field, not far from where little Animiikins is (a Pueblo puppy who left us not quite eight years ago, after only a 6-day stay, losing a battle with distemper). Cree will rest in the shadow of the bank of wild sunflowers that appeared from nowhere last year. 

The process with a horse is not an easy one; it requires chains, and dragging, and carrying her up in the air, and lowering her into the earth in all sorts of ways that could be undignified and horrifying. John made it seem both respectful and serene, and we buried her with everything she'll need, as we do with all of our animals. There are two apparently abandoned stray dogs, not much more than puppies, who've been coming over the last two weeks (they're mostly hanging out at the neighbor's), and the small one attended the burial, lying down a few feet away from me just as She-Wolf does. Just before we came inside for the evening, I noticed that he'd returned to the site, and last I looked, he was lying near her headstone, keeping watch over her as she makes her journey. 

Kindness from a stranger.

As to the rest of it, please just share links:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just above.
• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool.

Still, before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

Thanks, everyone.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

Watch

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Sometimes, love medicine is a watch kept by a stranger.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

#TBT: Love Heals

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a trip back five years to a work from my own collection. On a day when grief is present, it's a reminder to me that love heals.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This design obviously will not be repeated, but if its substantial size or copper material speak to you, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can make something unique to you. And, as always, sales are much needed, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Cree is on her way across the sky.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

I took that photo with Wings's cell phone about 1:00 this afternoon.

It breaks my heart, and yet I love it so. I love them so.

At about 6:50 PM tonight, Cree began her journey across the sky, the newest Spirit Horse.

Given her circumstances, she far outlived what would have been her normal life expectancy. She was only about 20, but she was severely laminitic, and I know that the only reason she survived (and thrived) this long is because Wings bought her from her last owner some 15 years or so ago. The last nine or ten years have been exceedingly difficult for all of us, as she went suddenly from the occasional short-term flare easily treated with a little Bute to a flare that lasted the better part of a year, and then became a pitched battle for her, and for us.

Back then, no one knew how to handle it. So we buckled down and did the work ourselves, figuring out what standard treatments actually exacerbated her condition, learning to buck the conventional wisdom all along the way to help her get comfortable and heal. But time does its work, and just over a year ago, we thought the terrible day had come on New Year's Eve. The horse vet looked at her two days later, and told us there was an outside chance, but it was just that, and if it didn't work, there was nothing else to do.

Her coffin bones had rotated through her soles.

But she didn't want to go, and so we put in the work, and within four months or so, she'd built up more than inch of brand-new sole and begun to reverse the rotation a bit. It was nothing short of miraculous, and a testament to her own strength of will that she cooperated with us all along the way, determined to stick around for a while.

Three weeks or so ago, we had cause for concern again. She simply wasn't herself, and we know her well enough to recognize it. We thought, at the time, that it was related to the founder — thanks to the chaotic climate-change-induced weather patterns, she was flaring again (which is the norm), but as she limped to the water trough, her hindquarters buckled briefly.

We told ourselves it was the pain in her forefeet. Her hind legs have been doing more than double duty for years, and she had some of the most developed quads I've ever seen on a horse.

The vet came out the next day, and she rebounded immediately with a change in meds, so we thought it was a one-off.

Yesterday evening, just before dark, I saw her come out from under the overhang, sail past ice, and practically skate in a half-circle to return to the other trough. She looked like the Cree I knew from more than a decade ago: no limp, withers and neck relaxed, head held high. Happy. I sent the vet a note about it this morning.

Mid-morning, and Wings called me outside. She'd nearly fallen. She clearly had severe ataxia, although only in her hindquarters; think along the lines of the gait of person with severe Parkinsonism. We called the vet, who was off and out of touch, but Cree was one of her first patients years ago, and she called right back and came out to see her.

It wasn't good news, but there was a shot with a large dose of IV Banamine. The motor skills and sensitivity testing we did clearly showed CNS involvement, and probably lumbar-sacral involvement at a separate level, too. There was an outside possibility of a parasite as culprit, and we'd planned to have the labs drawn tomorrow, but the more likely explanation was a tumor or lesion somewhere along the spine or elsewhere. She was alert, engaged, in no pain, and happy, but the vet warned us that if she went down, she would not be able to get back up, and we would know that it was time.

She ate, and happily, this evening. Just as Wings was coming indoors, she turned to go back into the stall, and collapsed. He came ad got me; I went and sat in the dirt and sawdust with her while he called the vet, and she came out in the dark. The temperature was exactly freezing, the stars brilliant, and about 6:50 PM, we let her spirit go to begin her journey. Tomorrow, we'll be calling a guy up the road who has the equipment to take care of her final resting place.

Tonight, Wings's beautiful paint girl is the newest Spirit Horse, racing across the Milky Way, the bridge to other world.

We love you, Cree. We'll see you every night, glowing as you make your journey across the western sky. 



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.