Tuesday afternoon, a van load of refugee children from RISSE, the refugee and immigrant retreat center in Albany, will arrive at the Pompanuck Farm Institute outside of Cambridge, N.Y. There will be about 20 people all together, they will be staying until Thursday.

Most of the will sleep in a big yurt on the Pompanuck grounds.  The woman will sleep in rooms nearby.

There is a beautiful pond, hiking trails, a basketball hoop and a wonderful large round building with fireplaces  and sofas and tables for eating and drawing. Pompanuck has 90 beautiful acres of its and adjoins a vast state woods.

When they arrive, Scott and Lisa Carrino and Maria and I will greet the kids in a circle and explain Pompanuck the dining and the schedule to them. This retreat was made possible through the generosity of a wonderful woman named Helen who doesn’t wish to have her full name used. She is just happy, she says, to have been able to do it.

Tomorrow, a welcome dinner. Thursday, Maria will lead a  hike into the beautiful woods. Gordon McQuerry will come to work with the Bedlam Farm Musical Band taking shape in the group. Rachel Barlow will come to teach drawing and painting. Mandy Meyer-Hill will teach movements for  trust, athletics and for stress.

I will teach a story-telling class, hopefully they will each write down a story about their lives, I know some of their stories are just amazing. And their stories are important, they ought to be told and preserved.

So I am excited. I will be at Pompanuck much of the next few days and will  share images and words from the retreat. This is such a good thing to do and be a part of I believe, one of the shining moments of the Army of Good. These wonderful children need it and deserve it, I am proud to be a part of it. So is Maria. All three dogs are coming, by popular demand. They love Red and Fate, they want to meet Gus.

Thank you, Helen, you are an angel. More to come.