(They say if you shoot portraits of people you love, they will be the best portraits. I have never loved anyone the way I love Maria, and to me, every portrait of her is beautiful.)

This week, another big step forward for the blog, starting Tuesday or Wednesday readers will be able to comment directly on the blog for the first time since the blog was created in 2007. There will be a small reply or message button at the bottom of the page.

All comments will be moderated, which means I will have to approve them. I will be straightforward and tell the nasty people of the world not to bother, they will never get onto the blog. Neither will anyone whose message begins with “I know you don’t like unwanted advice, but…”

I belong to the Church of Mind Your Own Business, and I do not wish my life to be a debate among strangers. I cannot up the lives of all of the animals here to everyone on the Internet, so the comments are not a place to know how Minnie is doing. If you wish to know, please read the blog, I work hard at it every day.

I have always seen the blog as a monologue, not a dialogue. I have no wish to argue or explain my life on the Internet all day. And I don’t wish to spend a lot of time on the Internet at all. I love writing and taking photos, and that is what i want to spend most of time doing. The rest is spending time with my wife, friends and dogs. Facebook and  Twitter or other social media sites just doesn’t play a big role in how I live.

But my blog does. I love this blog, it is my great and lasting work, my living memoir, a radical experiment proven that has gone well. We have become a community in recent years, I want to hear from you, and you have the right to be heard right here, where the community is.

I see the comments on the blog as a safe space, a place for people to share ideas, agree or disagree. It is not a place to argue or attack, or to post comments without giving them at least a little bit of thought.  No hostility of any kind will be tolerated. I’m not online all day, to it might take a few hours, or even a day, before your comments will go up.

You are quite welcome to disagree with me, most people do much of the time, and we get along quite well as a rule. I think the blog is ready for thoughtful and interesting comments, and it will be free of the chaos and mindless cruelty that sometimes infuses social media. There, people don’t need to think to send messages.

On the blog, my wish is that people will think a little bit. So I am happy about it and look forward to it. The geniuses at Mannix Marketing say it will be ready by Tuesday, so please look for it. And please feel free to comment.

I understand that there are many good people out there who have no appetite for social media, and I hope they will feel comfortable commenting on my blog. Thanks much. A big step, but a good step for bedlamfarm.com. My gut always tells me when it’s time for the blog to chance, I feel I was born to write in this medium.

We live in an interactive and I have learned much from  your comments. You are very welcome here.