To avoid the intense heat of the day most of us tried to run before noon on the road from southwestern Oklahoma into the panhandle of Texas. By the time my morning team finished around noon the temperature was up in the 90’s F again which is in the 30’s Celsius. Not much happened during our run today as the roads were not busy and the landscape was mostly pastures and farms—very few people, but lots of cows and horses.

We wanted to get done as early as possible not only because of the intense heat, but because we were looking forward to our stay at the Bar H Dude Ranch in Clarendon, Texas. Frank and Terry Hommel welcomed us to their very cozy and large ranch for the afternoon and the night time accommodations. Amongst all the cowboy hats and boots hanging on the walls of the lodge was an anonymous poem:

The real meaning of our existence

Is not to make a living

But to make a life

A worthy, well rounded,

Useful life.

Therefore:

Do all of the good you can

By all of the means you can

In all the ways you can

In all of the places you can

At all times you can

To all of the people you can

As long as ever you can.

It is often surprising to find

What heights may be attained

Simply by remaining on the level.

Again and again, I keep having my dreams fulfilled on the Run. Today there was another day like living a dream. There were several people on the ranch who did not know each other before: an English couple staying for a week while they stopped during their 6 months of travels through America, a large family living 3 hours from here staying here for a weekend, people living in a nearby town of Clarendon. We all ate dinner together, rode horses together, played together, talked about life together etc. It was like a big family reunion. The harmony and goodness is the most natural feeling here, so tangible, people simply live it. Tomorrow some of us will go our own way again, but the feelings and memories stay inside much, much longer.

I wish we as a humankind would be able to preserve as much as possible nature and places like this so that we can escape from the hustle and bustle of the city life, at least for a moment. I wish I would be able to feel gratitude big enough for all what we experience on the Run. I’ll keep trying.

All the best to y’all !!!

Kanala

I think everyone has something wonderful to say about their experiences here at the Bar H Dude Ranch today. Unfortunately we have limited time to express it all, but Kanala’s rendition of our experiences was right on the mark. People from all walks of life and different corners of the globe all seem to congregate here around this time of year for horseback riding, cattle drives, bird watching and hiking and we are lucky to be part of it for a very short time (half a day), as we pass through this area of Texas.

So many people were very accommodating and friendly to us and we would like to mention a few:

Frank and Terry Hommel, the owners of the ranch, and their daughter Laura and her two lovely children Madison and Lily, Dillon, Evan and Kirsten who guided us on the horseback ride along some of the trails before and after the delicious picnic dinner they supplied for everyone tonight.

We were also welcomed by some of the kind people from the Chamber of Commerce in Clarendon: Judy Berlin, the Director, Tom, Lanton Lambert, Irene, Bill and Anna Safenhagen who were locals who also came just to greet us here at the ranch. We had dinner with these fine people as well as others who were visiting the ranch. (Sorry if we did not get all the names and spellings correctly.)

Even though we felt like city slickers who were trying to get a feel for the ranching life, it was truly a comfortable and welcoming experience because of all the kindness and self-giving offered to us. Some of us were even quick learners when it came to riding and roping.

As I write this, most of the visitors are settling into their cabin rooms with familiar cowboy names such as Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy, Buffalo Bill, Jesse James, and Wyatt Earp. When we leave tomorrow we will have some new Romania, Italian, Uzbeki, Slovakian and German ‘cowboys’ and ‘cowgirls’ now, running on the road of harmony carrying with them the hopes and dreams of all the wonderful people we met in this small corner of the huge state of Texas today.

Arpan and Harmony Cowboys and Girls

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