I mentioned earlier in the week that the “support the blog” buttons on my blog were not functioning. I did notice the support donations had stopped abruptly, but I just thought it was the economy.

My blog is the hub of my work and all of the work we do now for others. There are several simple ways to donate. One is Paypal, [email protected]; another is Venmo, Jon-Katz@Jon-Katz-13. Another is one-time payments via credit cards or Paypal and Venmo.

I never really like asking for support, but I would like the alternative even less. I hope some of you out there feel the same way. It took me years to ask to be paid for my work, but now I know I deserve it, just as anyone else does.

And I work hard at it every day. Along with my photographs.

Still, another is subscription payments – $5 or $10 a month or $75 a year. And checks are always welcome, Jon Katz, Blog Support, P.O. Box 2o5, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

The blog is free; people can subscribe and have the blog emailed to them free of charge, and donations have nothing to do with subscriptions. If you scroll down, free email signups are at the bottom of the daily journal pages. All you need to do is enter your email address.

The blog will always be free, but sadly, running it is not free to; it is expensive.  Blog support helps me pay the maintenance cost, as well as pay my bills.

I ask for blog support to keep the blog going; I don’t write books or get fat royalty checks any longer. This was my choice and the right one for me; I’ve focused my creative work on the blog and consider it the focal point of my creative life.

But this work pays a lot less than book writing.

But it is not free for Maria or me; monthly maintenance, registration, and repair payments are required.

The blog support also helps to pay for the animal care, which spurs the animal photos. Like everything else, the animal photos are free, but not to me.

If you choose to subscribe, as many kind people do, you can cancel anytime. It’s not like those other websites. You can withdraw as quickly as you subscribe and in the same place.

No financial information is stored on the blog.

My photography is also free to you but not to me.

I am happy to offer my photos for free, but support pays or helps to pay for that also.  I bought the cameras with my own personal savings.

I am proud and glad to post my flower pictures, but I had to buy the seeds and bulbs and the plants themselves.

I don’t bookmark or copyright my photos; they are yours to use for free in any way you wish. Photography is not inexpensive either.

So if you find my blog valuable, provocative, entertaining, or thought-provoking, please consider contributing in one way or another, one-time only, monthly, or when you are in the mood. One time payments are appreciated, as are small donations.

The pandemic,  Ukraine, and inflation have slowed the payments and donations down, which I understand. But I still need some support to keep the blog going.

I’m relieved the support buttons are working again. Feel free to take a look.

I write and take photos, have given up long vacations, and write just about every day, sometimes on politics, spirituality, animals, and sometimes just on me and my musings.

My blog was inspired by the famed New Yorker writer E.B. White, whose Column “One Man’s Truth” about his life on a Maine farm got me thinking about the Bedlam Farm Journal. It was one of the best moves of my life.

These are tricky times; I think we may need one another.

The blog has grown much faster than I imagined it would, but that has only made it more expensive and complicated to run. I do love it; it is my living memoir, my great work.

Please help if you can. You can support the blog with one-time payments to Paypal, [email protected], or here on the voluntary payment page. Or by check, Jon Katz, Blog support, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.