Every day, there are treasures in my Post Office Box (Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N .Y., 12816). Most are for me, some are for Maria, some addressed to us both. Some have crisp new bills or small checks enclosed (people with little money trying to pay for their subscriptions), some are just surprising, like Jane’s letter from Talashal, Portugal, where I would not expect to have readers of the blog.

“I thought I’d surprise you with a few lines from Talashal,” she wrote, “a centuries-old stone village in the mountains of central Portugal, where some friends and I have a very old house. I read your blog every day – it usually arrives in e-mail early morning and I read it while sipping my breakfast green smoothie.”

I paused on that paragraph, savoring the image of Jane in that old village reading my blog with her morning green smoothie. It’s a beautiful image for me. “I grew up in Central African with a lot of animals,” writes Jane, “my mother rescued them – I have almost had four-footed creatures in my life, although not necessarily my own. There is a colony of feral cats here in the village, history/origin unknown. There’s a very fine line to walk with regard to one’s relationship with them.”

There is a lot of truth in that, it is so gently put, it reminds me of the barn cats, in America we to not let things live unknown lives, we think we have to fix every problem and save every animal from the natural world. Jane’s writing suggests a more philosophical approach.

“What intrigues and inspires me most about your blog is the way that you have come to view it as your work,” she writes, “your book also and how you view the rapidly changing world of pre-digital publishing. It inspires me to think about a blog of my own, I come from a creative/arts/photography background but have been a busy homeopath for many years. I know I need to get back to something more inherently creative but what/how was eluded me. However, your blog and photos are lights along the path.”

My Post Office Box brings me magic and mystery, from the small bills people enclose to the magical messages like Jane’s. She has given me yet another wonderful reason – I have so many –  to get up in the morning, to think of my work inspiring some gifted human in Portugal.

Jane, I love your letter to me, it touched me deeply, and I thank you for it.  I want to say to you from the heart that the first step for you is to start your own blog, especially if you love mine, there is no reason to shut down the creative part of yourself, it can grow and prosper along with the rest of your life, which has an enchanted quality to it, at least from your letter. I love the notion of my photos and words being lights along the path, your words evoke a lot of feeling and grace, they ought to be shared with the world. You would not regret a blog, it would widen and enrich the spirit that wants to come out, the creative spark.

I would love to have a longer conversation with you one day, I would love to stay in touch and I so look forward to the day your e-mail me and tell me about your new blog, your lights along the path from the other side of the ocean. Good luck with the cats, you know to be careful. Best wishes back to you.

(Jon Katz, Bedlam Farm, Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816)