12 June

Red In A Storm

by Jon Katz
Red In A Storm

Red’s faithfulness and hard work are forever an inspiration for me. Today, as the temperature climbs into the 90’s, I remember a photograph of Red I took just a few months ago, while Maria was in India. A blizzard was raging around the farm, and I told Red to lie down and hold the sheep where they were as I went to get hay and grain.

When I returned, the sheep were in place but I couldn’t Red at first, not until my eyes had adjusted. There he was, he never moved an inch.

12 June

News: The Refugee Children Scholarship Fund. The Army Of Good.

by Jon Katz
Scholarship Fund

A very wonderful woman named Helen who does not wish for me to use her full name,  very generously offered to help me purchase the Tin Man for Bedlam Farm yesterday.

It was a beautiful offer, but I told her I couldn’t accept it, I can’t be taking people’s money to buy art (I sure don’t regret taking help for my camera several  years ago,)  especially when there are so many good uses to put it too right now.

Helen respected my feelings, but she quickly said she would like to use the money to make a contribution to the refugee children, instead. Would I accept that? I said yes, if she was sure, I couldn’t refuse to accept money for the RISSE  refugee kids, some of whom are photographed above with their teacher Ali.

I had trouble going to sleep last night thinking about how to use the money, several hundred dollars. And it hit me around sunrise. A scholarship fund for the refugee kids.

I asked Helen if it was okay to use the money to start the Refugee Children’s Scholarship Fund. A program to help the refugee children take some classes to further and supplement their education and adjustment to America. To show them the true heart and spirit of America, a country searching for a heart right now.

For a relatively small amount of money – none of these kids are near college act – this fund could help them find their creative sparks, or pursue and expand their interests and passions. These are the things that will help them find their place in America, expand their potential and help the define and pursue their dreams, which is, for me, what America is all about.

I have already met and heard of some promising candidates for special instruction – one is a gifted artist, another plays the violin, another the piano, another is obsessed with computer programming but is frustrated the lack of special instruction in school.

We could alter the lives of these children for very little money.

They will also learn that America is not just a nation of fearful and envious people, but a generous country, with a big heart.

This morning, I’m going to my bank to open a special bank account for all donations and support for the refugee children. I’m using Helen’s money and some of mine to start the account with $1,000.  This will include not only the RISSE soccer team but also the other 80 plus children in the RISSE after school and special education program.

The account will help me keep track of the money and know exactly how much there is and where it is going. Ali and the other teachers have the final world on where the money will go. He knows these children better than anyone. He loves the idea, I called him early and woke him up to tell  him about it.

Ali and the staff at RISSE, the refugee and immigrant support center of the Emmaus Methodist Church in Albany, will help locate and monitor the children who would benefit the most from special help, from art instruction to tutoring to music lessons or computing instruction.

The goal is to encourage a visible skill or interest. To provide these children with the tools they will need to advance through our culture. Tools that may level the playing field some. I believe this could be of enormous help to these children.

Ideally, this is work that government might support, but in our world, any kind of support from the government for these children is either being canceled or cut back. They need our help.

I will accept donations to the Scholarship Fund, but remember, if a lot of people donate small amounts then no one has to extend themselves, although you can donate any amount you choose, or none at all.

If you like this idea and wish to donate you can send a check to the Children’s Refugee Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. You can also contribute via Paypal Friends and Family, you can send the donation to [email protected]. Paypal also permits the use of major credit cards.

I will report regularly how much money is in the fund and where it is going. Some families accept publicity, some fear it now.

I am reminded that the RISSE offices were burned to the ground by arsonists just a year ago, and the hatred and controversy surrounding refugees and immigrants is much more heightened today. They hear all of the talk of banning people like them from America.

So I’m headed to the back. I repeat that small contributions are just as welcome as larger ones, there are a lot of you out there, the money adds up in this way. I am committed to this work and will leave the choices of recipients entirely to Ali and the RISSE teachers and staff.

It would be inappropriate for me or anyone else outside of RISSE to participate in those decisions. So if you are comfortable with this, your help will be most welcome, the news of the Army  Of Good is spreading.I thank you for listening.

Welcome to the Refugee Chidren’s Scholarship, and Helen, I thank you greatly. You have spawned some good.

12 June

Seven Years: Should We Stay Together?

by Jon Katz
Seven Years: Should We Stay Together?

Today is the seventh anniversary of my marriage to Maria, our great adventure together. When we got married, in the big barn of the first Bedlam Farm, we each promised in our vows that if the marriage stopped working for any reason, each of us could walk away, no drama, no anger or guilt.

Because of the Open House, this anniversary sort of got lost in the shuffling. Out of our haze and soreness, it has come to the fore.

Maria and I promised then that once every few years, we would simply renew our promises and vows to one another, and walk away if we decided that was best. We keep forgetting to it, and this morning, I took Maria out for an anniversary pancake breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants in Vermont.

We will spent the rest of the day cleaning up after the Open House, returning furniture, cleaning off the loan.

I was started when a woman came up to me and introduced herself as Kathleen B. Label, she is from Pennsylvania and is visiting in Vermont this week. “I love the Army of Good,” she said. “I want to join.”

She was eager, she said, to support the Army Of Good and she had been meaning to send a donation for the refugees or Mansion residents for some time.

And here, she said, I was with Maria, sitting at a table a few feet from her. How amazing, she wondered, is life? She gave me a check for $50 and introduced me to her husband. The Army of Good, she said, is a powerful and wonderful idea.

How amazing is life.

Maria and I made a fumbling effort at actually discussing whether we should remain today, what, she asked, were the pros and cons?

Well, I said, the sex is wonderful and a gift to me, we are soulmates. We support each other and work very well together, we always have fun and we love our lives together, just about every minute.  We are living our lives. Your art is a miracle to me, so is your great love and great heart and generosity of spirit.

Well, she said, digging into her waffles (she eats like an Army platoon), those are not cons,  I think.

Oh, sorry, I said. Well, you are  strong willed and intense and edgy sometimes, but I especially love you for the emotion you show and for your honesty and creativity. You cry as easily as many people talk, and it is all pure and honest. I love you for your loyalty to your friends,  and for the great compassion you show to the world. You have a great heart I said.

Hmmm, she said, this isn’t working out, I don’t think.

Well, what about you, I asked? Do you want to stay together with me?

She laughed. Almost all of the time, she said. Let’s get back to the farm, I have to clear out the studio from the Open House and set it up so I can work.

We agreed to postpone the discussion and rent a hotel or motel room on Wednesday night to officially celebrate our anniversary. We have an idea for a funky old motel on a Vermont lake, not far from where we take the sheep’s wool to be made into yarn. I need to call Cassandra to see if she can watch the animals.

It seems we are staying together, at least for another seven years. I feel good about that. I am the luckiest of people. I have made an awful lot of bad decisions in my long life, but this one was a good one, and it often overshadows the other kind.

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