Red Willow Spirit: When the Waters Call the Sky

Photo copyright Wings, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for what remains of winter, and for the beauty and medicine of survival in dark days and hard times. It's three images linked by two matching works of wearable art, all manifest in the magic that occurs when the waters call the sky, and the sky answers in kind.

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 ahead and we're already into the third week of February. We urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing than last year, 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.    

Out of order today. Again.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Yes, out of order today. Again.

It's been mostly a not very good day. I spent most of it sick, by which I don't mean any kind of infectious condition [it virtually never is with me], but simply my autoimmune disease raging entirely out of control on multiple fronts. We had to run a couple of errands, which didn't go especially smoothly, and now my feet are killing me in addition to everything else, but that's the way it is.

And it's progressive, so it's probably not getting appreciably better. Worse, though? Oh, yeah, it can always get worse.

And, of course, everything will be late tonight.

The much worse problem is that Stormy seems not to be feeling at all well, and I can't find any reason for it, but it's scaring the hell out of me all the same. If she not better tomorrow morning, I'll have to see if I can get her in at the vet, but in the meantime, if you could spare some prayers for my little stormy girl, she could use them right now.

The one good thing today is that the wood got delivered out in the county where it was supposed to go. The guy who did it came by near the end of the day and picked up the check, so that's done, at long last. And we now have a contact for this sort of thing if it ever arises again.

And I'm sure it will, because everything's terrible. Firings, unfirings, more firings, funding all still suspended or ended . . . . It's a coup, and a looting, and if folks like us die in the process, they'll count that in the win column.

Because all the usual issues continue apace. So does the work, our own and the vocational stuff that we have no choice but to do. And, of course, the world is still on fire, they're still coming for us all, and we still have to worry about our communities, about our relatives [both of whom are disproportionately affected by this illegal "funding suspension"], . . . and about us. Last year was indescribably bad on pretty much every single front, especially sales. This year, already a month into it, and it's not appreciably better. I have GOT to make some sales, since we've had only two so far in this new year, and we're already in the second month. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. Now we have a potential security issue, and I think we're going to have to hire someone to install a camera system here [the distance is too great for the little cheap cameras; this will require something a lot more sophisticated (and a lot more costly, natch)]. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I can't live with this level of unrelenting stress on top of everything else.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every 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.                                                   

Now, if I could just bring in a few sales this week . . . .

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Yesterday it was the bluebirds who arrived; today, it's the crows.

Of course, the corvids are here year-round, but they've been in the fields and skies all day today, apparently finding things that, similarly confused by the weather, have emerged thinking it's spring.

Supposed to be snow overnight again, though. The clouds are already moving in. I know most people would think that's an unwelcome development, but for me, it's always a good thing. Stormy skies are good for today, anyway; sixteen years ago this afternoon since we lost Hunter, the our fluffy girl who adopted me on sight and refused to let me go, and where has the time gone?

I've at least managed to get a few things under way that needed doing, too. The firewood order for the gentleman out in the county is arranged at long last. Wings is making progress in the studio. And my to-do list for this evening is a mile long, but I'm whittling away at it, one item at a time. 

Now, if I could just bring in a few sales this week . . . .

Because all the usual issues continue apace. So does the work, our own and the vocational stuff that we have no choice but to do. And, of course, the world is still on fire, they're still coming for us all, and we still have to worry about our communities, about our relatives [both of whom are disproportionately affected by this illegal "funding suspension"], . . . and about us. Last year was indescribably bad on pretty much every single front, especially sales. This year, already a month into it, and it's not appreciably better. I have GOT to make some sales, since we've had only two so far in this new year, and we're already in the second month. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. Now we have a potential security issue, and I think we're going to have to hire someone to install a camera system here [the distance is too great for the little cheap cameras; this will require something a lot more sophisticated (and a lot more costly, natch)]. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I can't live with this level of unrelenting stress on top of everything else.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every 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: From the Ice, Waters of Life Emerge

Photo copyright Wings, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for too-early spring weather that is nonetheless forecast to cede space to snow by tomorrow. It's an image that dates back nearly two decades, an illustration of the truth that from the ice, waters of life emerge, the lifeblood and breath of these lands for the rest of the year.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we're already into the third week of February. We urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing than last year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.        

Big if.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Two of the hearts currently in the works. What we're waiting for is to be able to get beads for them [and the Rosarita one not pictured, and for the lapis and ingot oval I posted a few days ago]. They don't re-open until Wednesday, so it has to wait until then, which means the pieces will be complete maybe Thursday/Friday, if all goes well. Big if.

These are both unique; you won't find anything like this just anywhere. The one on the left is. material called "Leland Blue" [sometimes called "Leelanau Blue"]; it's from my homelands. It's a type of slag that resulted from the refining process at the old Leland Blue Iron Works in Leelanau County, MI. Leelanau is both county and town, and people will try to tell you that it's "an old Indian name," but that's all bullshit. Henry Schoolcraft, curse his black colonizer soul in hell, made it up, deciding it sounded "Indian" [it doesn't], and spread the lie that it was.  That's probably the least of his sins, though. Anyway, back to the slag:  It's glass, essentially, and it. manifests in that teal shade, more green than blue but with both in it, and what looks very much like cherry blossoms scattered through it in shades of peach and pink and off-white.

The one on the right is an actual mineral, but not your usual kind: It's silicon. Yup, the exact same mineral that gets converted into the silicon wafers used in chips for computers, cell phones, etc. This, specifically, is what's known as "rejected silicon," meaning that it didn't pass whatever QC tests would have enabled it to be made into such chips. A lapidary artist whose work Wings uses frequently got hold of it, cabbed it into a heart, and left the ripply surface as it was. It's charcoal gray, but there's a silvery shimmer all through it.

At least Wings got some work done today. As usual, for me it's been all interruptions all the time, which is why I'm here doing what should've been done this morning so late at night now. It's been an awful weekend thus far, and I'm so frustrated, and in so much physical pain and with so much fatigue, that I just want to cry. I can't. But yesterday, I managed to aggravate my subluxed hip and both thumbs [a subluxation is a partial dislocation of the joint, and it's extremely painful], plus dislocating the joint on my right [dominant] hand and wrist where the radial and ulnar bones connect to the carpal joint, AND dislocating a couple of ribs on the left side, resulting in several pulled muscles. No, there's nothing I can do about it except ride it out until each goes back in place, and cope with the pain while I wait.

Meanwhile, all the usual issues continue apace. So does the work, our own and the vocational stuff that we have no choice but to do. And, of course, the world is still on fire, they're still coming for us all, and we still have to worry about our communities, about our relatives [both of whom are disproportionately affected by this illegal "funding suspension"], . . . and about us. Last year was indescribably bad on pretty much every single front, especially sales. This year, already a month into it, and it's not appreciably better. I have GOT to make some sales, since we've had only two so far in this new year, and we're already in the second month. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. Now we have a potential security issue, and I think we're going to have to hire someone to install a camera system here [the distance is too great for the little cheap cameras; this will require something a lot more sophisticated (and a lot more costly, natch)]. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I can't live with this level of unrelenting stress on top of everything else.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every 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 Waters Call the Eagles Home

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work to honor our local lands and waters, the places where the eagles gather. It's a reminder, too, in these days when their numbers are newly endangered, that the waters call the eagles home, and we need to protect this haven for them more than ever now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we're already into the third week of February now. We urgently need to get 2025 onto a much better footing than last year, 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.   

Warnings and warmings.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

That was this evening. As you can see, not so much as a flake's worth of accumulation down here, but the peaks got a lot more today than what was forecast [and the forecast was for snow yesterday, not today]. We also had avalanche warnings out for here last night and this morning, but I only just learned of it five minutes ago. 

Guess it's a good thing we didn't see a wall of snow come barreling down the highway, hmm?

At least in the meantime we get to see beautiful sights like this. But on the avalanche front, we'll have a lot more of that to come; temps are far too high, and it makes the snow at those elevations very unstable. Warnings and warmings.

Meanwhile, all the usual issues continue apace. So does the work, our own and the vocational stuff that we have no choice but to do. Our friends lost their grandson and nephew the other day; his widow had quit work to be his caregiver for the last . . . more than a year now, through everything. She's going to need help getting on her feet now, and you can do that here. And yes, I'm expressly asking you to go donate, and to share it with your networks. Just like I asked you to do for Elijah himself.

And, of course, the world is still on fire, they're still coming for us all, and we still have to worry about our communities, about our relatives [both of whom are disproportionately affected by this illegal "funding suspension"], . . . and about us. Last year was indescribably bad on pretty much every single front, especially sales. This year, already a month into it, and it's not appreciably better. I have GOT to make some sales, since we've had only two so far in this new year, and we're already in the second month. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. Now we have a potential security issue, and I think we're going to have to hire someone to install a camera system here [the distance is too great for the little cheap cameras; this will require something a lot more sophisticated (and a lot more costly, natch)]. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too [the three hearts are delayed; we planned to pick up the beads yesterday, but since they've had a death in the family, it can wait for next week]. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I can't live with this level of unrelenting stress on top of everything else.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every 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.