Kaaren: “When I first opened your blog, I first saw the thrilling line formation of geese moving across the sky. Then I saw the succeeding photos and thought how wonderful it is that you’re bringing these wonders of nature to your readers. Thank you so much.”
Messages like this are lovely to read; they make me feel all the hard work on the blog is worth it. I forget that sometimes most of my readers do not live in the country, are not close to nature, do not live with animals, or live on farms. It was a joy to take those geese’ photos and gratifying to know they were appreciated. I hear you. Thanks, Kaaren.
I so have farmer readers from all over the country and urbanites from all over the country. It’s a nice mix, and I’m proud of it. Kaaren reminds me why I love doing this. It never occurred to me that I took the goose photos yesterday that so many people do not have a chance to see this.
The farmer blog reader has also become valuable to me, as we understand many of the same things (like the grace and beauty and tradition of giving an apple to a neighbor’s horse) without being told. I don’t need to explain it.
We just missed the big storm hitting the Northern parts of the country, and just by a hair. We have two or three inches of snow on the ground, not enough to keep me from my dental appointment this afternoon to have a tooth pulled. I saw the hens were out taking their last work before the storm.
I wanted to let people who subscribe to the blog and are not getting their daily e-mail to know there are technical problems with the company that manages the mailings. Many people don’t realize they can access the blog anytime, 24/7, by going to www.bedlamfarm.com. I’m getting many messages from people who think I am dead or dying. If I die, you’ll hear about it.
The subscription service costs a lot of money each month, and its reliability is disappointing and sometimes inconsistent. Every time we reinstate somebody’s e-mail list from the blog, it costs $15 to get it going again, along with the monthly charges. I want to keep this service going, but I’ll have to reconsider if the system doesn’t settle down. Most blog readers get it the traditional way – they bookmark it or go to www.bedlamfarm.com manually each morning or whenever they have to read it.
I wanted you all to know we are working on this issue; resolving it may take a day or two. I thank you for caring, but I must find a better solution.
I’m also constantly rethinking the blog posting system. Until five or six years ago, I never posted comments on the blog. I was free to innovate and experiment with my ideas for a blog, and I didn’t need to spend so many hours defending myself and explaining myself.
A new reader wrote me yesterday to say she didn’t understand why I would write about Liam if I didn’t want to hear how people felt about it. That was frustrating. I’ve explained my feeling about unwanted and often bullying messages of advice, and I can’t bear even to do it any longer. There are so many more of them than me.
I told her I share my life; I dont give it away or surrender it to other people, almost none of whom I know. The number of angry posts, posts from people wanting to argue with me, posts from people wanting to tell me what to do, posts from people who think that because I am open about my life, I am asking the wider world to tell me how to run it are all on the rise, thanks to the growth of social media platforms.
Too many bring rudeness, intrusion and bad manners.
And then there are lovely posts from people like Kaaren. I would miss them. They mean a lot to me.
Most people are good and want to do good.
I’m evolving on this. I’m getting stronger and wiser.
Now, 99 percent of the time, I delete negative messages, but I never finish them. I respond to very few unless I’m in a belligerent mood and blow off the tension by going after that. That can feel surprisingly good.
Many people aren’t mean but love to argue and are drunk on the easy way to do it on social media. They have to go also. They are getting deleted.
I do not argue my positions and beliefs with strangers on Facebook or other social media. The comments I post are either thoughtful or engaging or appreciative of the farm and the life we have built here.
I do accept disagreements – almost every day – as long as they are civil and thoughtful. I don’t fight with people online unless I think the argument might have meaning for others.
I’m getting more comfortable with the wanton intrusions of people I don’t know. I ignore it or delete it. I want to spend my energy taking photos, thinking, growing flowers creating my own songs.
That’s how I ought to be spending my time. That’s how I will be spending my time.
Life is way too short to argue with strangers I’ll never know or even people I do know. My advice to me: Don’t Get Mad. Get Busy Doing Good.
Thanks for your interest; I’ll keep you posted on any changes I might make.
