After they sang “We Are The World” at the Open House today, I presented the RISSE soccer team with a Yamaha digital piano thinking they might wish to start a band. And they do. They had a meeting and they decided to name the band “The Bedlam Farm Musical Band.” I told them a dozen times they didn’t need to do that, but they didn’t pay much attention to me.

Ali is excited, he says they will work hard on their music in the fall and through the winter. They’re going to find someone who can teach piano (two of the kids play the piano) and we’ll see what happens.

It is strange to have a band or a soccer team named after my farm, but as Ali told me, the support the team has been getting from the blog has been nothing short of a miracle. He is going ahead to buy new soccer uniforms with the name “The Bedlam Farm Warriors,” and an image of Red on the front of the jersey.

I can’t quite imagine what the band will look like. The kids are quite excited about the band, and I admit I am proud to have the farm’s name attached to the idea of making music and giving creativity a chance to blossom.

The America that I believe in and they believe in offers everyone a change to move up. We were not meant to be a nation for the few and not the many.

A new chapter in my life for sure, but a joyous one. These are wonderful people, they deserve the very best their new home can offer them. Last year, arsonists burned down the RISSE offices, this year the are fielding a strong soccer team, getting snappy new Jerseys, going on retreat at Pompanuck Farm, going on Saturday and birthday excursions all summer,  and spending a day at the Great Adventure Amusement Park in Lake George in July.

I am, along with many others, including Maria and many readers on the blog, determined to make this year a vastly better one that last year. We are on the way. We are the world, I think.