Our room in Teahan’s, Crowmane, County Kerry, looks out over the Castlemaine harbor. The tide is low, as are the clouds. Ireland is this gentle palette of blue-gray, gray, and green. There’s a field behind the inn where a hare lives, and in the surrounding countryside, amongst the smattering of houses, there are cow and sheep fields. It’s just lovely.

The girls are still asleep, but I’ve gone down for coffee. Mary, the house manager was there, tending to a table of tourists from America, men, looked like golfers to me. Soon she’ll run “one of the Ukrainians” into town. They’ve been hosting refugees here for months now. When we arrived yesterday, Mary told us about a family of Pakistanis who’s stayed for months, getting ferried about, only to leave suddenly without a thanks, and leaving their 17 year old son behind to pack 4 trunks of their belongings and travel to Dublin alone. Mary said the rest of the refugees come only with plastic bags of their belongings.

Last night a family arrived with their baby. I am sitting here in the room, appreciating the view, the coffee, and my daughters, safe and asleep in their bed.