I’m writing this column for two reasons: to thank the Army Of Good for rushing at least 15 Texas Instrument Calculators to Bishop Gibbons High School for the refugee children and to ask for help for me and the blog. Sue Silverstein says she believes enough have arrived or are on the way.

I know more are coming, and any extra calculators will be distributed throughout the school. Thank you.

The second purpose is to ask for blog support; the blog is the centerpiece for all of our excellent work, from flowers to essays to spiritual thoughts to animal stories,  and has been my primary source of income since giving up book publishing (or since book publishing gave up on me.) It’s been a long time since I asked for support, and last time, I got very little response—hard times, I know.

The blog will always remain free, but I ask that people pay me for my work – essays, photos, articles, and portraits. I work on the blog daily and offer pictures and ideas that can be helpful, stimulating, or thought-provoking. If it means something to you, please support it.

Without your help, the blog can’t function or continue, and like the rest of you, the price of everything I need and buy has gone up. People are sick of so many people asking for their money. I understand that donations and contributions have slowed due to the pandemic, inflation, and a sense of fatigue about our stomach-turning political system. People tell me they are sick of hatred, grievance, and argument. My mailbox overflows with requests for money; it’s often unbearable.

Fear drove a lot of interest a few years ago, and fatigue and weariness have set in. I understand, but the blog supports a serious effort to help the needy and the discouraged. We have done an awful lot of good these past years; I want to keep it going. It has never been more necessary. Donations may have declined, but my work continues to grow.

It’s the purpose of the blog to share warmth, color, and light at a time when people need it. And to help people do good wherever they are. The flower photos have brightened many mornings if my messages are believed. Our good work lifts spirits and offers hope.

So please consider contributing to my blog support requests. All contributions are voluntary. You can support the blog in several ways – here on the blog itself, through Paypal, [email protected], or Venmo, Jon Katz@Jon-Katz-13, or by check, Jon Katz, Blog Support,  P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Small contributions matter as much as big ones and are welcome.

You can contribute weekly, monthly, or annually or send donations on a one-time basis. Whether you donate or not, the blog is free and can be sent daily by e-mail sign-up or by going to www. bedlamfarm.com.

Every time the mailing is disrupted, I have to pay a fee of $16 to restore it, and those software issues have risen sharply in recent months.

The number of people reading the blog regularly has risen consistently over the past few years, but the donations have dropped. It’s revealing and interesting.

I got a computer tech support bill for $601 this week, most of it for people who were not getting the blog delivered for one reason or another. Technology is not as advanced as we think it is. While this service is free to you, it is not free to me.

This is something I feel responsible for paying for; my daily readers are important to me, but it also heightens the need for help.

More importantly, I hope to continue my work supporting the refugee children still arriving in the United States and the Mansion residents, who have come to depend on us for warm clothes, art supplies, and other needs. Contributions to those causes have plunged, but we are innovating and getting help to the vulnerable and doing good every day.

(The calculator SOS is a great example of the kind of work we do all the time. We changed the lives of these wonderful young students; their families could not purchase new calculators, but so we made it possible for them to learn things they need to know. Please consider supporting the blog.)

I can’t do this without your help. I understand these are challenging times and disheartening times. After years of political hostility, anger, and division, people have become battle-weary and sick of being asked for money. We have some difficult years ahead, but staying hopeful matters. So does color and light, the search for spirituality, and the healing spirit of animals.

Those are all things I write about and are the blog’s heart and focal point. Flowers help; I’ll keep posting them through the winter.

Still, the blog has evolved into a place of warmth and support. I understand the importance of offering a safe place. This is unique and important; I want to keep it going. If the blog matters to you, help if you can. If you can’t, keep reading, and I’ll keep fighting. I’m not going to burn out or quit; I’m not going to succumb to weariness and cynicism. I’m a warrior for hope and good.

I have to give special thanks to the good people who have hung in there with me repeatedly. Thank you, you know who you are.

My flower photos are seen everywhere and seem to help people lift their spirits, but the flowers, the flower bed, and my photographic equipment are expensive, as is the blog’s maintenance itself. I admit that hospital stays are expensive; they have put some pressure on the blog, Maria, and me.

So please help if you can. I am loathe to ask for support and fail to ask regularly enough. But I do need help, and if you find the blog entertaining, enlightening, or uplifting, please help me keep it going, and thanks for reading this.

Sue Silverstein sent me this message after receiving the first wave of calculators: “Thank you from all of us here at Bishop Gibbons for the very kind people who blessed the students with calculators for their classes! We are in awe of the amount of love and kindness from the members of the Army Of Good.”

I thank you also and bow my head to you. Your support has given my life purpose, meaning, and fullness and helped thousands. Now, these children can do their math homework at home and learn and grow.

Please support the blog and the power of love and good if you can via blog support here on the blog (all major credit cards are accepted) or via Paypal, [email protected] or Venmo, Jon Katz@Jon-Katz-13.

Thanks for thinking about it. As Sue Silverstein knows, there are lots of good people out there.