Puff the Magic Dragon

Puff the Magic Dragon...what is this song really about? I can officially say that now I know... after singing the song with Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary himself, and listening to him describe the song itself, I can now say I KNOW, it's not about smoking or any other crazy idea you could come up with. This morning Andrea and I left Kentucky at 9:30am and headed to Newark, NJ for our orientation before we head to Poland. Here in Newark we are staying at a hotel for a one day orientation before we head to Poland tomorrow evening. In the midst of my crazy schedule at the end of the semester, I've been struggling to prepare myself for the trip and what the trip will mean, how I will grow and how it will affect me. So, most importantly, I am eternally grateful for this quick orientation. It's helped me to process what we will be seeing, what we will be experiencing. Peter Yarrow was a surprise part of our orientation, singing some songs that we all know, but also singing some that we haven't heard, reminding us of what his songs and his life are really about. The humanity of people, of persons, of individuals and the need to remember that in all we do. The need to remember that every action can affect a person, an individual and most often the need to remember it may be in a negative manner. The need to remember that we are all interconnected and all interdependent - that we all share in the human condition. Puff the Magic Dragon is a memory of childish innocence lost. When the little boy grows up, he can't worry about Puff anymore almost to the point that he can't believe in Puff anymore because adult society has forced us to pay our attention and energies to many other things that don't allow time for Puff. We are forced to pay attention to the atrocities of humanity, the pain of humanity and t0 learn about the human condition. Puff slowly leaves our lives as society pushes him out. Poland is going to be an amazing experience - I can't even begin to describe - I only hope I do the memories justice as I return to share them with anyone and everyone who wants to hear them.