The day was heating up quickly after a cooler night spent at our friends’, the O’Connells, in their beautiful home near Concord. My teammate for the day, Sunabin, and I stopped at Walden Pond nearby. It was a great place to go for a morning swim and it is also well known for the small and humble home of Henry David Thoreau, a great American poet of the Transcendentalist style.

Thoreau’s experiences living as a recluse in the woods by the pond for a number of years inspired him to write very deep and meaningful poetry and prose. His words express the very personal connection to nature and living in harmony with it as we try to transcend our own limits. He wrote, “We can never have enough of Nature. We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible vigor, vast and Titanic features, the sea-coast with its wrecks, the wilderness with its living and decaying trees….We need to witness our own limits transgressed.”

Leaving Walden Pond, we met up with the runners and our first ceremony of the day was in Cumberland, Rhode Island at a bridge that was dedicated to the founder of the World Harmony Run, Sri Chinmoy , many years ago. Mayor David Iwuc of Cumberland presented us with a citation and offered very kind and supportive words. We were also joined by children from the local Boys and Girls Clubs of Cumberland/Lincoln and by our friend and local coordinator Khipra and his family who came up from Philadephia to join us. The reporter for the Pawtucket Times was very gracious and patient as he stayed with us for a while during the ceremony and our run through town.

We also had some local runners, including our good friend Debby and her son Nico who helped the women run into town and out again as they made their way to another bridge on the border of Central Falls and Pawtucket. Our ceremony there was joined by Mr. Harvey Goulet, the Director of Administaration of the City of Pawtucket. He offered us a very nice proclamation from the Mayor, James E. Doyle and kind words of support. Sean Cassidy of the local YMCA brought about 10 children who joined us in the World Harmony Run Song and offered their wishes for harmony as they passed the Torch around.

Making their way to the capital city of Providence, the runners were greeted by Mayor Cicilline, who offered a proclamation and inspiring words of support and encouragement. We are very grateful to the Mayor for coming out on such a hot and muggy day during his very busy schedule.

Our last ceremony of the day was in Coventry where we were very enthusiastically greeted by the President of the Town Council, Frank Hyde, the Town Manager Richard Sullivan and Parks and Recreation Director Guy Lefebvre. Their enthusiasm for and understanding of harmony and our efforts to share that with all those who we have met gave us joy and hope as we near the end of our journey. We are also very happy and grateful for our good friend and organizer Vijali, along with all of our other friends from Rhode Island who came to support us and help us as we made our way through this inspiring state.

We ended our day near the Connecticut border where we were able to cool off in the Beach Pond, a big and beautiful lake surrounded by forest.

In Voluntown, our first stop in Connecticut, we were welcomed by some friends and very supportive strangers as well at the Voluntown Peace Trust Camp in Connecticut. Mary Novak, Danny Malik and Harold run a wonderful educational facility there and opened their home to us. We were treated to a fantastic and healthy organic meal by Desiree and Rob, son of Bill Champagne who organized this wonderful accommodation and meal for us. People from other groups such as the Center for Social Change and the Youth Peace Camp Experiment all joined us for a meal and ceremony afterwards where we shared ideas and inspirations for bringing more harmony and understanding in the world.

We are grateful to all those who organized and attended these wonderful events at the Peace Trust. Our friends from Providence Frank Morosky and local runner Deb and her husband and kids from Coventry as well as others who happened to come at the last minute, all added to the meaningful and fruitful experiences we had in the short time we spent there.

Arpan and Team Harmony

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