Harmony Rhymes

Straight and turn,

Forget and learn.

Rain and sun,

Tears and fun.

Trains and trucks,

Mosquitoes and bugs.

Miles and miles,

Smiles and smiles.

Bush and tree,

Feeling so free.

Waving and singing,

Sometimes Maria whistling.

Rivers and ocean,

Always in motion.

Space and time

Have no more rhyme….

Linda (Hungary)

Leaving a town, especially a very small and friendly town like Ingomar, Montana, is quite a challenge when you are treated like family. Jerry Brown, the owner of the real estate in Ingomar, was like a father to us this morning, treating us to breakfast, giving us gifts and taking some of the guys to ‘run the bison’. (see story below)

In yesterday’s story I mentioned all the people who treated us so kindly at the Jersey Lilly Café. Since there are only five full time residents of this unique town, most of the people we met or knew from other times we stayed there, were just there for a while or employees at the Café or just passing through like us. Regardless, Ingomar is a place you cannot easily forget and always want to come back to when in this area of Montana.

By the time my team of Pathik, Slava and Kaspars had made lunch and were ready to leave Ingomar, the temperature was up to 90 F or about 30 C. We ran the last section of the day’s 109 miles which was more than the average mileage, in weather that was getting hotter each day. Luckily we had a little bit of a breeze and some cloud cover for a short while. But it was a challenge running 10 miles in the hot sun on some very long hills as well.

By the time we made it to Miles City we were ready to jump in any kind of water source like a river, lake or pool. Fortunately, my run ended in the western part of Miles City across the street from a local pool/lake that I was familiar with from other trips. The women in charge let us use the facility without charge for which we are very grateful.

We are also very grateful to Kevin and Lisa for their kindness in offering us camping space at the KOA here in Miles City. Their place is immaculate and well fitted with wireless internet access, a clean swimming pool and even a very clean and large laundry room. We hope we can come back here again sometime.

Although we have had thousands of people greeting or helping us along the way for almost three months now, it is always a special treat when people want to somehow get involved or just help us out in some way. Those of us who have been with the World Harmony Run since we left from New York on April 16 still can be astounded or pleasantly surprised when people seem to show up out of nowhere to help us in one way or another. Maria, a full time Harmony Runner with us all the way from Bulgaria, had a nice encounter with a woman named Becky a few days ago.

When looking for a place to stay for the night near Harlowton, Maria and Sevati met Becky in a cowboy shop named ‘Grace’ in Harlowton. Becky voluntarily and cheerfully made many phone calls for us to finally get us connected to the right people who offered their ranch for us to stay the night in Winnecook.

Maria says, “A nice thing which amuses me about the World Harmony Run is how, in the middle of the prairie someone is ready to interact with runners carrying a torch for world harmony.”

Since we have been running through very small towns here in the eastern sections of Montana, it would seem less likely to find people who would get excited about the Run enough to help us out. But as we have seen in Butte, Townsend, Winnecook, and Ingomar (with only five residents), Montana’s citizens in general have really opened their hearts to the message of the World Harmony Run. From mechanics, cooks, managers, and cowboys to mayors and senators, we have really felt at home and welcome in this huge state of Montana which has less than one million people.

Tomorrow we are unfortunately running out of the state of Montana after running here for about a week now. But we shall carry with us the goodwill, wishes and harmonious spirit of the people here who know how to live in harmony with nature, with animals and with themselves.

Arpan and Team Harmony

My First Stage Coach Ride

My team got hooked up with the first running shift of the day. We had 26 miles for the three of us. (We are still breaking the new guy in.) We started from Melstone and finished 1 mile past the infamous Ingomar. Ingomar is legend amongst for the torch relay. Our relationship is long and deep. We love our visits there and they’re never the same.

This time my team got the rare opportunity to ride a stagecoach in the “Wild West”. Jerry Brown—our most generous host—offered to take us out and see the bison run up close and personal like. We had a great time seeing them storm by the stagecoach several times as Jerry rode behind them herding them this way and that.

Don't think I could have traveled like the first settlers did. Just the few miles we did jostled us all around. We’ll stick to our modern “stagecoaches”, but we sure enjoyed the experience none the less.

Atulya and team A

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