One team of guys had to drive to Elmira, outside of Eugene last night, as we had to get Morris to the airport for his departure to New York. (Back to work Morris, we are sad to see you go.) We stayed at my brother Giribar’s house with his family, Linda, Joey and Nicky in Elmira. Some of us enjoyed a very hot dry sauna in a natural cedar sauna house complete with wood burning stove. It was a very nice setting in a fir tree forest with huge trees and dark green moss decorating the branches and rock formations.

Linda cooked us a very delicious dinner as we enjoyed the rustic surroundings, ping pong table, piano, guitar, computers and 3 cats. It’s very relaxing to have a real house to go to at night. We are so grateful to the DeAngelo family for their hospitality. They even treated us to a wonderful breakfast at their restaurant-bakery called, ‘Our Daily Bread’ in nearby Veneta.

Joey, 11 years old and the younger of the two boys, had been with us on the run for a few days already. We were planning to leave him at home with his family as we had to travel on north. But he told his father, my brother, that this was the best time of his life and he wanted to stay with us until we reached Seattle. He even made his own version of a torch in less than an hour out of a coconut shell and some scrap wood. Such enthusiasm and sincerity we could not refuse, so Joey is now with us for a few more days, adding to the youthful energy that we are so fortunate to have here with us.

The beginning of our run today started with a nice ceremony at a Boys and Girls Club in Florence. After our introductions, singing and answering very interesting questions of the children, Josef and Pujari invited the children to become honorary members of our Harmony Run Team.

They explained in a playful way that there are three requirements: first, to memorize and recite out loud the slogan “Harmony Begins with Me”; second, to hold the Torch and make a wish for harmony; third, to run with the Torch.

Many of the children enthusiastically became members and had great time running around the outdoor track with the Torch.

Along with the counselors and Bob and Shirley, the directors who so selflessly organized this event, they cheered as our runners, Goran and Joey, as they left to continue running up the amazingly beautiful Oregon Coast.

Before leaving Florence we were offered some large sandwiches by the local Subway Sandwich Shop. Brittany Lukens, the daughter of the owners, kindly donated five delicious ‘footlongs’ to our small team here in Florence. Even though they were getting quite busy around lunch time, they made our lunches in a very cheerful and selfless way. This display of harmony and friendship to us ‘strangers’ was a very heartwarming and inspiring experience.

As we ran out of Florence, a newspaper reporter, Larry, suddenly appeared. We explained what we were doing and he decided to follow us for ten miles to photograph the team at a breathtaking viewpoint at Sea Lion Caves. Josef, our Czech runner, amazingly met a group of Czech tourists there and told them about the World Harmony Run. They were so surprised and excited and are looking forward to seeing the Harmony Run in the Czech Republic in September.

Pujari continued with the Torch and then met a Japanese cyclist who quickly turned his bike around so we could take a picture of him with the Torch. He is riding down from Vancouver, Canada to San Diego, California on his bicycle. We have seen so many other cyclists in the last few days who are touring on the same route that we are running, only in the opposite direction.

As we write this, we’re sitting in a fantastic house right on the beach watching the sun set over the Pacific. We are kindly being hosted by Joyce Rollison, Natabara’s and Bandegini’s mother. This vacation home that was offered to her for a few weeks has been our accommodations for two nights for most of the team. Again, it is a real blessing to have a nice home to come to after a long day on the road. In this case, this home is on the Pacific Coast overlooking the very clean and powerful Pacific waves as they roll in with the setting sun and serenade us to sleep soon.

Gratefully,

Arpan and Team Harmony

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