The most I've ever asked of you

Many of you have been reading my blog for a long time. (Thank you!) We've been doing this together, you and I, since 2008.

I don't know why, but recently I've been bombarded with a lot of offers from companies and individuals to do sponsored posts and requests to add buttons and images to my blog ... things I'm just not interested in doing -- nor have I ever been interested in doing. Sounds like a lot of upkeep to me, and many of you have said at one time or another that you appreciate the fact that I don't accept ads.

But I have a request to make of you.

I'm a member of Amazon's Affiliates program, and when I link to products on their site (and I tell you when I do), if you purchase anything as a result of clicking to Amazon from one of those links, I  receive a commission from them of roughly 4 to 7 percent of the purchase price. Amazon doesn't pass an increase on to you; it just deducts it from its profit on the sale.

To tell you how profitable this has been for me in the past, I HAVE EARNED TWELVE WHOLE DOLLARS OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS AS AN AMAZON AFFILIATE.

I know! Blogging is profitable, y'all.

Back to my point: It occurred to me that if you were inclined to support my blog at no cost to you, you could change your Amazon bookmark in your browser to (copy and paste it):

http://www.amazon.com/?&tag=grassstains-20&linkCode=wsw&

That is my personal Amazon Affiliate home page link. It would be a "passive" way to support my work here, because a small portion of your eligible purchases would be paid to me as a commission each time you shop there.

I won't know who does and who doesn't, so there's no pressure on you one way or another. And I know I could be opening myself up to some serious criticism here, but I decided that the ask was worth the risk.

Please know that if you decide to support my blog in this way, it would mean more to me than you could ever know. Thanks for considering it.