Day: March 1, 2018

I did two really smart things today, an unusually high number for me. First, I went to Albany to see the Wish List gifts the Army Of Good has been sending to the RISSE after school program for refugee and immigrant children.

It was such a lift to see how happy they are, and how many people are moving to support them. All day, I felt exhausted in a new and different way. I just couldn’t stop being tired, unusual for me. Since I don’t do old talk, it did not occur to me that this was because I am getting older.

I have been coughing for days, making it hard to sleep, and today I was coughing non-stop. I went to the doctor a week ago, he said I had a cold and it would get better shortly. If it didn’t, he said, I should call Karen.  I think I know this script, I knew I would ended up with Karen.

Instead of old talk, I got an appointment with Karen at 5:30 and I sped up my meeting in Albany and headed home. Along the way, I pulled over to rest, something I rarely, if ever, do.

I got in to see the very tough and competent Nurse-Practitioner Karen Bruce, who is shortly leaving my local health center and moving to the Adirondacks to work and live. Good for her, she is brave and strong.

What’s up?, she asked. I can’t stop coughing, I said, and it’s getting worse. And I can’t sleep either.

Karen took a look at me, checked out my heart and lungs. She didn’t like what she was hearing. She said I had bronchitis for sure, and she believed I was at the beginning state of pneumonia.

Frankly, I was relieved. I was afraid there might be something wrong with my heart, I felt so drained. This, she said, was a clear symptom of pneumonia. Pneumonia is not that big a deal these days, even for older people with heart disease.

She put me on antibiotics, prescribed cough medicine and some prednisone to reduce the inflammation in my throat and chest. She said I needed to get some sleep and rest. Can I write, I asked? Of course, she said, it’s just pneumonia. Karen has no time for whiners.

I am very fond of Karen.

We had a good argument about whether or not the Adirondacks is gloomy, which I think it is. Little sunlight, lots of huge pine trees and thick forest.  I find it a bit spooky.

She was somewhat incensed by this, and pulled out her cell phone and showed me a dozen photos of the house she and her husband are building up there, it is quite beautiful and i admit (not to her) that the sky was very open and the setting bright.

Then we got into a disagreement about smart phones, i told her that her old Samsung was cheap and outdated and I tried to show off my new Iphone X, which did not in any way impress her. To the delight of the nurses in the hallway, our battle continued out into the hallway and the reception sign-out area.

I got all of my pills and new medicine, and sat down happily to write about the trip to Albany. It was dumb of me to go to Albany, I do realize, (and Maria tactlessly emphasized) but i just thought I had a cold. Now I know I just have pneumonia, and Karen said it would be gone in a few days if I do what I am told and took my medicine.

I will and I did. I told Maria she was being unfair. I took good care of myself, and called and got an appointment right away. Tomorrow, I will be prepared to help with the rain and snow here from the Weather Channel’s latest Frankenstein Monster, Tropical Storm Riley.

I feel for people close to the ocean, if what I am hearing is so.

I will miss Karen when she leaves in May, and so will so many other people. The is a Truth Teller with a big heart and a direct manner.  I wish everyone might have access to a caretaker like her, and I think what she is doing with her life is wonderful. She is getting a psych degree and will treat the mind and bodies of people who need her badly.

I wish the people along the coast well tomorrow, it seems there will be some serious flooding, the worse trouble we face is a power outage. I intend to devote much of my day to not coughing and napping. And writing. If you don’t hear from me, it will be because the power lines are down.

I sent Karen a bunch of Talking emoji messages from the new phone. She won’t admit it, but she will love them.

My cough medicine is kicking in. Time for sleep.

The RISSE staff is working hard to create a school library. There is absolutely nothing in the room but a table and a few metal chairs and some shelves lined with books (they have lots of books). Thanks to your generosity, there are now two comfortable bean chairs were the students can come in and sit and read or do their homework, a place of privacy and thinking and learning in a chaotic environment amidst turbulent lives.

The chairs cost $42.77 and everyone one we send them means another place where a refugee or immigrant child can sit and think. The chairs draw children like magnets, they are soft and inviting and colorful. At some point, perhaps we can help the teachers to find  things to put on the walls, but there are other and more urgent needs.

I keep thinking of the chairs and the Sparkle paper towels. It is amazing how these chairs brighten and soften up a room. It is astonishing how many paper towels get used in a school with 200 kids.

A good number of teachers from around the country are sending gifts from the wish list, they know what classrooms need.

I can hardly think of a more satisfying thing that seeing the huge piles of boxes coming into RISSE, the staff is quite shocked. There are many good people in the world, and given the chance, they are eager to do good.

The teachers all say they wish to write and thank every person who sends a gift. I suspect this will soon be impossible, if it isn’t already. I told them I will make sure you all know how grateful everyone is there. Seeing those smiles lit up the sky for me

Thanks again. You can visit the RISSE Wish List here.

If you wish to support my work with the soccer team and the girl’s basketball beam and other projects for refugee children, you can send a contribution to me, Jon Katz, at Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]

I went to RISSE in Albany today to take some photos of the games and gifts and educational materials pouring into the RISSE after school program thanks to the Army Of Good and their new Amazon Wist List. We have plowed through it several times over and Cassidy, who is on the RISSE staff is working hard to keep updating it.

I think she will be working hard to keep up with us (and happily.)

A new list of needs went up this morning. You can see it here.

I hope the photos convey what I see – a bustling, crowded, engaged and dedicated school and staff with more than 200 students and very few resources.

The lighting is spotty, the walls are bare, the games and chairs are few. There are very few funds for basic supplies.

We are transforming the school, the teachers are so excited they very much wanted me to come in so I could see the great transformation underway.

This one will take a while, they need just about everything and the few subsidies and grants they had are being slashed and eliminated day by day by the federal government. They lost more than $70,000 in tuition subsidies, and they will not turn any of the refugee and immigrant children away.

I try to send them something every morning, it makes for a very happy day.

The games, lamps, chairs, educational toys and other supplies you are sending going straight to the children, and they are loving them and using them.

The new Wish List went up just before I arrived.

When I asked Cassidy what is most urgently needed she smiled and said “paper towels.” And bean chairs. The RISSE library had no chairs at all until we sent them two bean chairs (photo to come), and they are seeking at least two more. I’m going to send them one chair and some paper towels tonight.

It feels good to do good.

RISSE was created by the Emmaus Methodist Church. They have their own struggles with money.

I told the teachers I would pass on the requests for paper towels – they are on the updated Wish List  – I hope they have some room for storage, they are just beginning to figure out who they are dealing with. The truth is, this essential but tragically underfunded school needs just about everything.

They need trash bags, Mr. Clean, crayons. There are a lot of kids, and they all love to work. I loved the smiles and energy and love and kindness I found in that school today. The school is so desperately needed.

They pleaded with me to thank you for the help you are providing them, and I said I will.

I am especially proud to be associated with the Army Of Good, walking through the classroom today, seeing the happy, busy,  teachers and kids – they are getting paint kits, puzzles, crayon and paper – had me speechless.

We are transforming this school. Their needs are great, we can’t do everything, but we can do quite a lot.

Please check out the wish list. And thank you.

I’m heading to RISSE in Albany this afternoon, once a week or so I feel the need go to there, and talk to the kids and adults, the refugees and immigrants, and hear their stories and see what it is they need and to listen to their stories, which often send me reeling.

I’m hoping to take some photos of the kids in their classrooms so you can see what your money is buying and who for. I am hoping to raise some money for a weekend retreat at the Powell House, the highly regarded Quaker retreat and youth center in Chatham, N.Y.

As i’ve mentioned, I converted to Quakerism when I was a teenager, and value their values highly.

The Powell House has specially trained counselors who help teach kids strength, community and confidence. The session I want to bring the kids to – Aii is wild about the idea – costs $2,100 and is scheduled for May. My refugee fund is a bit low now, we’ve done a lot of things over the past month.

If anyone would like to help send these kids to the Powell House (my daughter went to some retreats there, they are quite wonderful) you can help by sending a contribution to Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or to me via Paypal, [email protected]. Please mark your checks “Powell House.”

Ali and the teachers at RISSE will choose the attendees, most will come from the soccer team, those kids have suffered almost every imaginable trauma and streets, and Powell House has long aimed its youth programs at children who need support. This is a good cause and I hope you can help.

I’ve read and heard the testimony of many children who say the Powell House has transformed their lives.

The youth counselors there are impressive, and Ali and another teacher will be present throughout the weekend to help with language or other issues. I’ll drop by also, we hope for the weekend of May 18-20.

We started out at 18 kids, but reduced the number to keep the costs down, the program asks $175 per person for six meals and two nights on a beautiful country meeting center.

The Powell House graciously offered to reduce the price, but I don’t like to do that. They do a lot of good and have great needs also, and if we can’t afford it, we ought not to do it. I’ve learned that lesson in life. If you can, your support is appreciated, as always.

Video by Maria Wulf

Maria and I revel in new experience, especially when it comes to animals and our own evolution as human beings.

We have a snail now, his name is Socrates. He lives in a new fish tank I bought Maria for her birthday, a 10-gallon tank with two goldfish,  a tiny bumblebee snail and Socrates. The tank is located in our living room, on a table that sits between the two chairs we sit in when we eat.

We have almost of our meals in the living room chairs, and none in our beautiful living room with a 10-foot table. Go figure. When we eat, we can’t help but see Socrates, an industrious, slow moving but steadfast creature. Maria is beginning to sketch  him, a sure sign he will soon grace one of her potholders (potholders and wool now up on Etsy. Her potholders sold out yesterday, more are on the way) soon.

Animals have always taught humans, we have needed them and learned from them since the beginning of recorded history, especially from the moment dogs and humans realized they needed one another.

Watching Socrates, I project all kinds of things onto him. : he is wise, accepting, industrious, peaceable. He climbs up and down the sides of our 10 gallon tank, sucking algae off the sides and cleaning up the gravel.

He reminds me that people who say little and move thoughtfully and deliberately seem wise to me. He does his job, causes no harm and remains focused. Watching him can be meditative. Try it.