I’m making my quarterly request for Blog Support.

The blog is at the epicenter of all my work, from taking pictures to working to help the Mansion residents to the time and energy I spend working with the refugee children at Bishop Maginn, now Bishop Gibbons.

I withdrew from mainstream publishing to be free and make my own way. If I don’t get paid for my work, I don’t get to pay my bills, feed the animals, or eat.

The blog has grown each year steadily from 2007 to now. The focus will remain the same – dogs,  farms, farm animals, daily posts and journals, spirituality, my life with Maria, my photography, and once in a great while, a look at politics.

I have diversified, branched out,  and am becoming the writer I wanted to be. I never asked for donations in the first years of the blog because I was getting book advances and royalties.

That revenue is gone, and most of my income now comes from the blog, which also receives all my time.

These are difficult times for many people, challenging for me. Inflation has raised the cost of everything I do, from maintaining the blog to caring for the dogs, cats, donkeys, sheep, and chickens, to hay, mowing, and falling tree limbs.

People are hurting, and donations to the blog and the causes of the Army of Good are significantly down. I have it much better than many people, but I also need to maintain the blog and the farm and pay my bills.

Like you, costs are rising here, although that is getting slightly better. People are hanging onto their money, as they should.

The Army of Good is still strong and very active, and so is my commitment to the blog; neither is going anywhere. But I have to cut back on the number of things I’m seeking help for and the price of those things that I purchase.

I’m going to fight to keep getting kids shoes for the winter, blankets if they are cold, healthy snacks if they are hungry, and sweaters and shoes for the Mansion residents as winter approach.

The blog is the engine that runs all of this. My mission at this stage of my life is to do as much good for the needy and vulnerable as I can for the rest of my remaining days.

But I need your support if you find the blog stimulating, entertaining, informative, or valuable in any other way.

You can support the blog here in several ways.

Credit cards are accepted, and blog subscriptions are offered monthly ($5 and $10 a month and $75 a year).

Small donations are very welcome; they add up. No financial information is stored on my blog or my server. I work with an experienced bookkeeper and a certified accountant in New York City.

You can also contribute via Paypal, [email protected], Venmo, Jon-Katz@JonKatz-13, and by check: Jon Katz, Blog Support, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Some people don’t like the Internet or aren’t comfortable using it to transfer money.

I love taking flower pictures and mean to keep taking them, but  I took them every day all summer; they are free like the blog and will remain free.

But I’ll be honest; the photos took a lot of time and energy; photography is an expensive passion, as is the blog itself.

I want to keep up this stream of first-rate photography through the Fall and into the Winter.

I am asking to be paid for my work if it is meaningful to you. Whether you donate or contribute or not, the blog will always be free.

That will never change while I’m around. All payments are voluntary, and one-time donations are easy.

Subscriptions or donations can be canceled quickly and at any time.

My blog will always be free, that’s a promise, but I am also looking for additional revenue sources to keep the blog secure and adaptable.

I keep updating it, improving the design and working to make it user-free. Subscribing to the blog is free for you, but not for me.

I’m considering offering an additional information service – private consulting about dogs, blogging, writing, and photography.

I’m seeking open an additional revenue stream to keep the blog healthy and constantly improving, and to keep the blog accessible.

If the blog means something to you, please consider supporting it. You can do that right here. My goal is to get people to think, not to be agreed with. I don’t hate people who disagree with me.

Several people have written me to ask if they can speak with me about my spiritual work; II don’t take afford t take the time to do this consulting for free.

So I’m searching for ways to make myself available to talk about these things online or on Zoom at a modest cause.

I’ve found some new websites that specialize in helping writers do this and will handle money, taxes, etc. I’m trying to work out the details.

I have a techie scouting the sites for me to make sure they are safe and well-planned.

Thanks for your support; the blog started in 2007 and is going strong in 2022. I  intend to keep it that way; we are just getting started in many ways.