Monday Photo Meditation: A Legacy of Reclamation

Photo copyright Wings, 2022;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a photo meditation for a Monday at the start of a profoundly difficult week, one in which grief, loss, and memory contend with the spirits of strength, bravery, love, and hope. It's a contemplation of what is left to us and what we choose to do with it, of how an inheritance of destruction becomes a legacy of reclamation.

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 urgently need to make consistent sales to make it through the rest of this third year of pandemic and loss, and there are effectively only four or five weeks remaining of the holiday sales season, 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.   

And yet they don't break.

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

More of yesterday's frozen spiderwebs. They're an object lesson in strength and resilience; that ice is heavy, and yet they don't break. At all.

But resilience is exhausting, and I'm way past my choking point now. No, I never break, not really, but sometimes I need a break, just to be free of all the constant pressures crushing me now, and I never get it.

If we don't make a bunch of sales this week, I don't know what I'm going to do, because there's just nowhere near enough coming in to cover everything that must go out.  As I said yesterday, it's been a catastrophic year, sales-wise and otherwise, and it seems utterly intent on going out entirely on-brand. Thursday's unanticipated $130 expense for the ATV battery is going to become something about five times that, because not only was the old battery bad, but apparently the starter is, too. it will have to be hauled down to the local place (and it can't be started, so getting that sucker up onto the trailer is gonna be a nightmare in and of itself), and we just don't have the money for it now, so he' doing everything by hand and delaying other work that requires the ATV. I still have to cover prepayment of next year's taxes, to the tune of a good four figures, before the end of the year, and I have no idea how I'm going to do that, given how slow sales have been all year (and losing several hundred dollars' worth of pledges on my Patreon this year has only worsened that). Now, if Twitter collapses? So does our best source of sales and subscriptions, by far, and I don't know how we survive that. Wings always assumes that everything will work out, but I'm the one who has to make sure it happens, and I'm failing at it pretty badly right now.

I will be doing nothing but pushing sales for at least the next five weeks. But I need to make this happen sooner rather than later, because the tax burden won't wait, and there's too much else that needs doing, even as my illness leaves me with less function by the day now. It's everything, from pain to balance to ability to walk properly to ability to use my hands properly, and the damage is increasing even as I'm running out of time to do it all. And Twitter's incipient destruction is going to deprive us of our biggest sales audience, and that means I'm going to be putting in twelve-hour days after the holidays trying to set up alternatives that won't have the effectiveness or the reach, and I am so depressed by it all by now that there aren't words. Which means I need help to get everything covered. We. Need. Sales.

All the links are here; please, share them, too (and there's a new wishlist priority, the automatic composter, which will do wonders for saving on waste and allow Wings to compost the land and trees regularly even through the winter; my physical function is impaired enough now that things can only get done if I have the help of equipment like this):

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are, first and foremost, the automatic composter and the wheelbarrow, then the other ladder);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

We're still hoping to put aside enough for a new well when the ground thaws enough to drill in the spring, too, Nah, we've given up on the well. No one's available to drill before late next year at the earliest, and this year's tax burden means we would never be able to afford it anyway. But it's even more of a good time to make a purchase, because Uncle Sam is a vindictive colonizer, and my current stress levels about paying it all are off the charts. And there's lots of fabulous 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.                                                                

Hope, and Love, In the Stardust Spirits of Flight

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a tribute to the beings who inhabit our winter world, and to those that have left us for other planes of existence. It's a contemplation, too, in a week of collective mourning to come, of the nature of grief and of what heals us, a medicine to help us find hope, and love, in the stardust spirits of flight.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We urgently  need to make consistent sales to make it through the rest of this third year of pandemic and loss, and there are effectively only four or five weeks remaining of the holiday sales season, 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.    

A garland of diamonds.

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

Grandmother leaves her web behind, knowing that in winter, it will become a garland of diamonds.

The whole world was beaded with them today; fog that fell after seven-thirty this morning lit up the land with white fire once the sun cleared the ridgeline. A beautiful gift, and wonderful medicine.

And given how much we're constantly on the run right now, it's good to have something to take your breath away for a good reason, to demand that you stop and notice and acknowledge and honor it.

And we need that now.  As I said yesterday, it's been a catastrophic year, sales-wise and otherwise, and it seems utterly intent on going out entirely on-brand. Thursday's unanticipated $130 expense for the ATV battery is going to become something about five times that, because not only was the old battery bad, but apparently the starter is, too. it will have to be hauled down to the local place (and it can't be started, so getting that sucker up onto the trailer is gonna be a nightmare in and of itself), and we just don't have the money for it now. I still have to cover prepayment of next year's taxes, to the tune of a good four figures, before the end of the year, and I have no idea how I'm going to do that, given how slow sales have been all year (and losing several hundred dollars' worth of pledges on my Patreon this year has only worsened that). Now, if Twitter collapses? So does our best source of sales and subscriptions, by far, and I don't know how we survive that.

I will be doing nothing but pushing sales for at least the next five weeks. But I need to make this happen sooner rather than later, because the tax burden won't wait, and there's too much else that needs doing, even as my illness leaves me with less function by the day now. It's everything, from pain to balance to ability to walk properly to ability to use my hands properly, and the damage is increasing even as I'm running out of time to do it all. And Twitter's incipient destruction is going to deprive us of our biggest sales audience, and that means I'm going to be putting in twelve-hour days after the holidays trying to set up alternatives that won't have the effectiveness or the reach, and I am so depressed by it all by now that there aren't words. Which means I need help to get everything covered. We. Need. Sales.

All the links are here; please, share them, too (and there's a new wishlist priority, the automatic composter, which will do wonders for saving on waste and allow Wings to compost the land and trees regularly even through the winter; my physical function is impaired enough now that things can only get done if I have the help of equipment like this):

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are, first and foremost, the automatic composter and the wheelbarrow, then the other ladder);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

We're still hoping to put aside enough for a new well when the ground thaws enough to drill in the spring, too, Nah, we've given up on the well. No one's available to drill before late next year at the earliest, and this year's tax burden means we would never be able to afford it anyway. But it's even more of a good time to make a purchase, because Uncle Sam is a vindictive colonizer, and my current stress levels about paying it all are off the charts. And there's lots of fabulous 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.                                                                

The Sunlit Shimmer of Frost on the Branches

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the last remaining entry in current inventory from one of Wings's longest-running signature series, one to honor the evergreens that come into their own at this time of year. It's a snow-wreathed fir like the trees here this morning, beaded with blue shadow and the sunlit shimmer of frost on the branches.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We urgently  need to make consistent sales to make it through the rest of this third year of pandemic and loss, and the holiday sales season is now officially under way, 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.   

A marker.

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

This day is a marker for us in the best way, and a pair of flickers decided to join us for it. The snow decided to join us, too — only intermittent flurries, but on a day when the forecast has continued to insist throughout that there is no chance of anything? We'll take it.

Beyond that, though, it's been all work, all the time. That's what it's like here anyway, but especially this time of year, and we lost two weeks in terms of Wings's work in the studio. Today, at long last, he was finally able to get the new regulator working, so he'll be trying to make up for lost time, but . . . two weeks out of our busiest season of the year? It's catastrophic.

Of course, it's been a catastrophic year, sales-wise and otherwise, and it seems utterly intent on going out entirely on-brand. Yesterday's unanticipated $!30 expense for the ATV battery is going to become something about five times that, because not only was the old battery bad, but apparently the starter is, too. it will have to be hauled down to the local place (and it can't be started, so getting that sucker up onto the trailer is gonna be a nightmare in and of itself), and we just don't have the money for it now. I still have to cover prepayment of next year's taxes, to the tune of a good four figures, before the end of the year, and I have no idea how I'm going to do that, given how slow sales have been all year (and losing several hundred dollars' worth of pledges on my Patreon this year has only worsened that). Now, if Twitter collapses? So does our best source of sales and subscriptions, by far, and I don't know how we survive that.

I will be doing nothing but pushing sales for at least the next five weeks. But I need to make this happen sooner rather than later, because the tax burden won't wait, and there's too much else that needs doing, even as my illness leaves me with less function by the day now. It's everything, from pain to balance to ability to walk properly to ability to use my hands properly, and the damage is increasing even as I'm running out of time to do it all. And Twitter's incipient destruction is going to deprive us of our biggest sales audience, and that means I'm going to be putting in twelve-hour days after the holidays trying to set up alternatives that won't have the effectiveness or the reach, and I am so depressed by it all by now that there aren't words. Which means I need help to get everything covered. We. Need. Sales.

All the links are here; please, share them, too (and there's a new wishlist priority, the automatic composter, which will do wonders for saving on waste and allow Wings to compost the land and trees regularly even through the winter; my physical function is impaired enough now that things can only get done if I have the help of equipment like this):

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities are, first and foremost, the automatic composter and the wheelbarrow, then the other ladder);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

We're still hoping to put aside enough for a new well when the ground thaws enough to drill in the spring, too, Nah, we've given up on the well. No one's available to drill before late next year at the earliest, and this year's tax burden means we would never be able to afford it anyway. But it's even more of a good time to make a purchase, because Uncle Sam is a vindictive colonizer, and my current stress levels about paying it all are off the charts. And there's lots of fabulous 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.                                                                

Friday Feature: A Light Both Reflected and Deep

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of extraordinary works wrought in traditional styles that the water and light, what ripples and reflects with what rests beneath the surface, and impel us to seek out both. It's two cuffs set with royal lapis, created as the very embodiment of the power and medicine of illumination: a light both reflected and deep, beckoning us always to seek, to find, to serve the whole.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We urgently  need to make consistent sales to make it through the rest of this third year of pandemic and loss, and the holiday sales season is now officially under way, 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.