Friday Feature: A Sheltering Geometry

Photo copyright Aji, 2021; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a work by a local artist who specializes in an old and spiritually significant style, one that she gives her own unique twist. It's a small spirit cup wrought of the same micaceous clay as the adobe brick that forms the walls of village homes, their own likeness sculpted on the front in a sheltering geometry.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We are still going to need to make consistent sales to make it through the rest of this terrible second pandemic-ridden spring (one that has already been bitter indeed for our communities), as well as the rest of the year, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.    

If only.

Photo copyright Aji, 2021; all rights reserved.

She looks like she's both making her escape and heading eagerly for something wonderful (which she probably was). 

If only.

I'm gonna be scarce. I'm completely overwhelmed right now with just ordinary stuff, all the repairs and so forth, but this other thing hanging over me is seemingly more problematic by the day. My pain levels are completely out of control right now, which could be just ongoing flare, could be pollen, could be weather, could be vaccine reax, or could be . . . something very much else. Next week can't come soon enough.

As I said, I talked to the imaging folks first thing Monday morning, and their earliest opening is next week, meaning that I have to sit here on pins and needles for more than a week before I know anything. They decided just based on my phone conversation with them that they would need to do the extra imaging. They have also promised to knock 50% of the cost right off the top if I pay the whole thing in cash up front, so that's what's going to happen, by hook or by crook. Which means sales. I think I have all of it covered, but I need to make sure I can do all of it, AND also take care of the repairs we're having done here this week.

That involves Tony and Nano working on some other things that have needed doing for a long, long time, and the new plumber. The plumber and his crew, which consisted of his son and his son's friend, finally got our water softener hooked up properly and functioning, which will help keep the water heater running properly for many more years than without, and they also got the washer and dryer up on their pedestals at long last. I know that sounds silly to a lot of folks, like there's nothing urgent about it, but the thing most folks don't know? My multiple episodes of nearly dying three and a half years ago did some damage to my airway. I can no longer bend forward for more than a couple of seconds without it shutting it off. These are front-loaders (why? because they were 40% off, and the Lowe's gift cards we'd been given could cover them), and with the sheer volume of laundry we have to do here, it means I was spending a lot of very painful time bent over trying to load and unload. Running a farm is dirty work. Yeah, I know, so-called first-world problems and all that, but I can't do it any other way anymore. Disability does that. [Yes, I know one of y'all's buddies says our home with the 660' footprint is "extravagant," but a lot of y'all only love Natives for trauma and poverty porn. We deserve a chance at a little comfort at our age, especially with all of our disabilities, and I'm not apologizing for being able to do laundry at home, because I literally could not do it any other way.]

Anyway. I still need to make some more sales, to cover that and still be able to cover what's coming. Because even if the tests are all covered, if  the scans come back the way all the evidence suggests they will? Survival is going to be a whole lot more expensive than that. Yes, I'm scared. On both fronts, medical and financial. I can't afford the travel, for one, never mind the treatment protocols or the surgery.

We need sales. Sales, sales, SALES. That's it; that's all; that's everything right now. Please, I'm begging folks:  Share our links, and if you're in the market, keep Wings's work in mind for purchases. 

I'm skipping all the rest of it because I'm tired, and frankly I don't have the focus right now for anything else. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are LaminaSaver for Miika [she's set until August] & metal/glass/dishwasher cleaners);
• 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 make up this staggering outlay somehow. 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, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                            

#ThrowbackThursday: An Architecture of Spirit

Photo copyright Wings, 2021; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with this week's #ThrowbackThursday feature a work that dates back to 2013 or so, one among scores of unique entries in one of Wings's oldest signature series. It's a Pueblo pin design to capture the substance of his culture's ancient and iconic homes, and a tribute to their status as refuge, sanctuary, an architecture of spirit.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This work obviously 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 are still going to need to make consistent sales to make it through April and the rest of this still-terrible, still-pandemic-ridden year (one that, like last year, has already been bitter indeed for our communities), as well as the rest of the year, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.    

Sometimes, it's your own.

Photo copyright Aji, 2012; all rights reserved.

Sometimes, you gotta be really brave because others' survival depends on it.

Sometimes, it's your own.

Coming sideways at the hawk seems easy by comparison right now, but I still wouldn't want to tangle with its talons. There are other talons digging deep into me right now anyway, and I've got to deal with that before almost anything else.

As I said, I talked to the imaging folks first thing Monday morning, and their earliest opening is next week, meaning that I have to sit here on pins and needles for more than a week before I know anything. They decided just based on my phone conversation with them that they would need to do the extra imaging. They have also promised to knock 50% of the cost right off the top if I pay the whole thing in cash up front, so that's what's going to happen, by hook or by crook. Which means sales. I have part of it covered, but I need to make sure I can do all of it, AND also take care of the repairs we're having done here this week.

That involves Tony and Nano working on some other things that have needed doing for a long, long time, and the new plumber. Not "new," exactly; his dad, who owned the business while he was alive, went to school with Wings, so even though he didn't know the son, there's still a link there. The guy seems to know his stuff, and we both got great vibes from him. He came out yesterday morning in the pouring rain, spec'd the stuff we need done most immediately, and will be here early this afternoon to get started on it, while Tony and Nano will be back to measure some stuff that needs repairing.

Which means I need to make some more sales, to cover that and still be able to cover what's coming next week.

Besides which, if  the scans come back the way all the evidence suggests they will? Survival is going to be a whole lot more expensive than that. Yes, I'm scared. On both fronts, medical and financial. I can't afford the travel, for one, never mind the treatment protocols or the surgery.

We need sales. Sales, sales, SALES. That's it; that's all; that's everything right now. Please, I'm begging folks:  Share our links, and if you're in the market, keep Wings's work in mind for purchases. 

I'm skipping all the rest of it because I'm tired, and frankly I don't have the focus right now for anything else. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are LaminaSaver for Miika [she's set until August] & metal/glass/dishwasher cleaners);
• 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 make up this staggering outlay somehow. 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, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

Defining the Edges of Sacred Space

Photo copyright Aji, 2021; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an old traditional-style work for a near-perfect day at the very threshold of summer. It's a slender cuff wrought in vintage fashion, one whose design is far greater than the sum of its parts, reminding us of the importance of defining the edges of sacred space.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We are still going to need to make consistent sales to make it through the rest of this terrible second pandemic-ridden spring (one that has already been bitter indeed for our communities), as well as the rest of the year, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.  

Twelve years gone, and still a thunder-shaped hole in my heart.

Photo copyright Wings, 2021; all rights reserved.

Twelve years gone, and still a thunder-shaped hole in my heart.

What does thunder look like? Like that up there. That was his name — well, one of them, anyway. Here, everybody gets nicknames, multiples of them, and the four-leggeds and featherbutts are no exception. His real name was Animikiins, Little Thunder Being, but we called him everything from Thunder to Thumper to Little Dude to Big Man to Little Big Man and more.

He was pint-sized, but a whole personality in a tiny trembly package, and brave enough to back even Raven the bully off with a bark and stare.

He came to us by way of an accident in the village, hit by the bumper of passing SUV and crying in front of the place next to us. The young women there were trying to figure out what to do with him but couldn't take him themselves, and we couldn't get hold of any rescue folks that late in the day, so we did what we had to do and brought him home with us. A quick but thorough examination showed that it was only a graze and all the yelping was from fear, not from pain. But over the next few days, the neurological issues would present themselves, and while we could not get an appointment with the vet between that evening, a Wednesday, and the following Monday, the news would not be good. Distemper. Advanced.

Meanwhile, in the parts of six days that Little Big Man was with us, he wormed his way right into our hearts. He followed us everywhere, talking constantly, head tilted to one side and gazing up at us quizzically about everything. The head tilt and the occasional repetitive thumping of his hind feet were artifacts of the disease, but he seemed entirely unbothered by any of it, just glad to have found a pack to be part of, and to be loved.

And he was loved. I was the one who had to take him on Monday, the one who had to hear what we already knew on some level. The one who had to hold him in my arms on that cold table and watch as he curled into them, gazed up at me, smiled a sweet puppy smile as if to say he knew what was coming and understood and it was okay, and went to sleep before the vet ever showed up with the big needle. The one who soaked his fur with my tears.

I barely made it home with his little body wrapped in a blanket. I wept the whole way. Griffin took months to forgive me. And we buried him in the field to the southwest, not far from where the horses now lie.

I did as I promised long ago that I would always do for our four-legged family members. The time was 10:20 in the morning, and so I took him cedar and tobacco with a little sweetgrass in it and some water. I took the lighter, too, but only the most momentary tiny flame was possible, because just as I started out, the sky opened up, and what had been a steady rain became a torrential downpour. And as I heard myself apologizing to this sweet spirit for the lack of smoke, I realized that he was only living up to his name. Only maybe three months old during those six days, and already a powerful being.

We love you, Animikiins. We're grateful for those few days, and for your presence, in the rain and in our hearts.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

If ever I needed to open up the flow, it's now.

Photo copyright Aji, 2021; all rights reserved.

I finally have my pot rack hung, which means that I have a lot more space in the kitchen to organize things. It's only taken almost four years. It's not a wagon wheel, it's a weir wheel, which is perfect in so many ways. Very old; cast iron; used to open the flow of the water upstream (at least back when there was water to bring down, which hasn't been the case for a long while). It's no longer needed; there's a more modern valve up there now. But Wings never got rid of the old wheel, and it was perfect for this. 

And for this week (and next), too. Because if ever I needed to open up the flow, it's now.

Tony and Nano are working on some other things that have needed doing for a long, long time, and Nano recommended a different plumber to us. He came out this morning, spec'd the stuff we need done most immediately, and will be here early tomorrow afternoon to get started on it.

Which means I need to make some more sales, to cover that and still be able to cover what's coming next week.

As I said yesterday, I talked to the imaging folks first thing yesterday morning, and their earliest opening is next week, meaning that I have to sit here on pins and needles for more than a week before I know anything. They decided just based on my phone conversation with them yesterday that they would need to do the extra imaging. They have also promised to knock 50% of the cost right off the top if I pay the whole thing in cash up front, so that's what's going to happen, by hook or by crook. Which means sales.  I have part of it covered, but I need to make sure I can do all of it, AND also take care of the repairs we're having done here this week.

Besides which, if  the scans come back the way all the evidence suggests they will? Survival is going to be a whole lot more expensive than that. Yes, I'm scared. On both fronts, medical and financial. I can't afford the travel, for one, never mind the treatment protocols or the surgery.

We need sales. Sales, sales, SALES. That's it; that's all; that's everything right now. Please, I'm begging folks:  Share our links, and if you're in the market, keep Wings's work in mind for purchases. 

I'm skipping all the rest of it because I'm tired, and frankly I don't have the focus right now for anything else. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are LaminaSaver for Miika [she's set until August] & metal/glass/dishwasher cleaners);
• 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 make up this staggering outlay somehow. 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, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.