In the woods, the sun breaks through the canopy like a theater spotlight, and where it shines every day, lonely but beautiful things grow. This plan is all alone on a path darkened by the rich leaf canopy that envelops part of the woods in darkness. Where there is light, there is life waiting to receive it. A lesson and inspiration and metaphor for me.
When I started this blog on Memorial Day Weekend of 2007, 20,049 posts ago, my publisher told me I was crazy. Best-selling authors do not have blogs, they said, my photos looked like cheap Hallmark cards, and if I wrote too much online, nobody would bother to buy my books.
Maria was about the only person who liked my photos, and she noted my enthusiasm for this relatively new form of communicating.
It was a gamble, and a good one for me. Today, there are about four million visits a year to my blog, I have more than 50,000 likes on Facebook and about 400,000 unique visitors to bedlamfarm.com. It is the soul of my work and in many ways, my life. I share the news of a life here, good and bad. You get the good Jon Katz and the bad one, but you will also get the real one.
I also share the stories of the people in my life, they are often better than my own. And my photographs are free to you to use in any way you wish, and they will remain free.
The blog is moving steadily to become the focal point of my writing and photography and creative life, and also my primary source of consistent revenue. The blog depends on your support, which is voluntary. I will never close the blog off to people who can’t afford to contribute.
But I do need people to contribute if they enjoy it, value it, and wish to continue reading and sharing it. A blog like this is expensive, there are many maintenance costs and challenges, photo stuff and time and energy. Plus there is the mortgage and food. I love doing it, and will be blogging to the end. It is my voice to the world.
An editor wrote me to say my blog is a living memoir, if it were a big book, the critics would be all over it, like Tolstoy. I laughed, but I also liked the idea. My blog is a living memoir, I write just about every day, usually more than once. I love every minute I work on it. It is my medium.
We have begun a voluntary payment program. People can contribute one time or monthly, they can contribute $75 a year, or more (or monthly in very small amounts, $5 and $10, if they wish). They can use major credit cards or Paypal or send checks to P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Lots of people prefer the post office box.
It is simple to cancel. I have no control over anyone’s money, people have their own account, they can manage it in their own way. I cannot subscribe people or cancel their payments, no financial information of any kind is stored on my blog or servers.
A small fraction of people who read the blog contribute to it in any way, so there is room for growth, a good thing for me. I am committed to maintaining the blog and sharing my life in an honest, open and hopefully thoughtful way. Please consider supporting my work if you can. The idea is for many people to give small amounts. That’s how the new world for writers works.
If you cannot, or don’t wish to contribute, you are welcome here anyway. I believe I am hopefully helping to pave the way for a new model for writers, and hopefully, for meaningful content online. I intend to remain a writer, and a relevant one. The blog is my path, as are my books. Thanks for considering it. You can get the details here.
There is no more focused creature in all of the world than a border collie ready to launch for work. In the morning, Red and Fate take up their positions at the gate. When I say, “ok, go,” they shoot out of the pasture and head out to find the sheep.
I’ve noticed that as some people get older, the color of their clothing gets brighter as well. I am not drawn to pastels, and would never hide or cover or disguise my hair. What you see is what you get, for better or worse. But the colorful new socks Maria has been buying me have transformed my own sense of myself and brightened my days in a number of ways.
It’s strange, but I never noticed my feet or looked at my socks, as important as both are to me. They were always drab, brown, gray and functional. Sort of like Stalinist architecture. I decided years ago that I wasn’t going to be drawn into fashion silliness, and I have kept my promise – jeans, chinos, chambray shirts, brown and gray wool socks.
I am not heading for pastels, I know where I am in life, but I like the feeling of this bright and cheerful socks on my feet. It is a neat way to start the day, putting these socks on, I love color and light, and suddenly, there is color and light on my feet. Generally, I have resisted Maria’s heroic efforts to get me to brighten up.
I am not resisting these socks, which Maria gets from Heather at Over The Moon.
I love the way she dresses, individualistic, colorful, artistic. But I don’t look like her and changing too much for me would look silly. At some point, you have to be who you are and like it. Still, I will be honest, seeing my socks out on parade on the clothesline was stirring, they were like pennants reminding me to live and grow and change. I am a warrior for color and light, and now, so are my feet.
They say that people who work with animals tend to love animals, especially those who work in veterinary offices. Cassandra is a vet tech at the Cambridge Veterinary Clinic, she has helped us through many a rough and challenging time, her face radiates the warmth and care she shows to our dogs (and cats.)
Our dogs love her and trust her, and she even puts down carpet for Red to walk on because he doesn’t like shiny floors. Not too many people would do that. I like this portrait, I think it reflects the love of animals that so many good people have. Cassandra is now giving Red massages for his back injuries, we appreciate her.
