October 27, 2023

Overview for this week.

1. As the world continues to struggle with peace, I'm starting this week with a 'Universal Prayer for Peace'.

2. Dr. Fox has kindly shared a new guided meditation with The Flock, I encourage you to give it a listen.

3. We have a reader submission that brings some clarity to an article we featured in our Oct. 6 issue. I thank Sarah Smallhouse for taking the time to share her expertise on the topic of primary elections.

4. We look at the history of Halloween and its neighboring holiday, Dia de Los Muertos.

5. In Around Town we look at Tucson's fabulous All Souls Procession and other Halloween related events.

6. This weekend in The Heavens we will be treated to a 'Hunter's Moon' lunar eclipse.

7. In Reaching High we meet a duo who climbed Washington state’s 100 tallest peaks in 107 days, and rode their bikes to every trailhead.

8. Every now and then, The Flock looks at a bird species, this week we're looking at the Greater Roadrunner.

9. I explore the health benefits of food-grade diatomaceous earth in Wellness.

10. The Kid's Corner highlights the Flandrau Science Center's Spooktacular Science! event for this Halloween weekend.

11.The Flock's roving naturalist, artist, and photographer, Cita Scott, submitted a beautiful shot of a monarch caterpillar and monarch butterfly together. 

12. In the Pet's Corner we meet Louise Glasser's companion mule, Pepe. We'll also learn a few facts about these wonderful animals.

Now, to this weeks Flock.

As the world continues to struggle with peace, I encourage everyone to say a prayer for peace. This week I am presenting the "Universal Prayer for Peace".

From: Worship Words

Each day at noon people of all faiths and none use this ‘Universal Prayer for Peace’. This forms a wave of prayer and hope rippling each day around the globe.

Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth;

lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust;

lead me from hate to love, from war to peace.

Let peace fill our heart, our world, our universe.

There is a world peace prayer society encouraging its use, alongside the simple prayer:

May peace prevail on earth

From: Xavier University

The following link includes prayers for peace from Christian, Buddhist, Baha'i, Hindu, Jainist, Jewish, Muslim, Native African, Native American, Shinto, Sikh, Sufi, and Zoroastrian faiths.

In the past weeks many Flock readers have taken solice in the guided meditations that Dr. Fox has posted on his website. This week, Dr. Fox has shared a new guided meditation, "Life as Inner Being," with the Flock. I encourage you to follow the link below and listen to this meditation.

To receive up-to-date class and seminar schedules, registration information, and site updates, sign up to Dr. Fox's mailing list.

In the October 6th, 2023, issue of The Flock, we presented an article on States with Open Primaries. A good friend and Flock reader, Sarah Smallhouse read the article and felt that it needed some clarification. I am reposting the article from Oct. 6 and Sarah's full comments here. I am very impressed with Sarah's work on elections an proud to call her a friend. I thank Sarah for sharing her knowledgeable input here, and would also like to encourage all Flock readers to use the "Share Stories & Photos:' link at the bottom of the newsletter to provide their own contributions to The Flock.

From: Wisevoter

The US electoral system uses three different types of primary elections: open, closed, and semi-closed primaries. Open primaries are those in which any registered voter can vote for the candidates of any political party in the state. In a closed primary, however, only registered members of the political party whose primary is being held can participate in voting. Lastly, semi-closed primaries are those in which independent or unaffiliated voters may vote only for non-partisan races or nonpartisan candidates but not for partisan candidates or parties. These primary elections are important to determine who will eventually be on the ballot during the general election. Each type of primary has its own advantages and disadvantages depending on the state’s laws. For instance, open primaries might give more power to those who favor one particular party over another, while closed primaries could create a sense of disenfranchisement among some groups due to having to register with a particular party before being able to participate in voting.

I want to comment on the highlighted portions.

First, many people refer to Arizona's primaries as semi-closed. This is because people registered as either Republicans or Democrats receive a ballot automatically, but Independents and people without an affiliation must request a ballot prior to election day to vote. They can only request either a Republican or a Democratic ballot and cannot vote for some Republicans and some Democrats. Their choices are limited to candidates from a single party. It is incorrect that Independent or unaffiliated voters can only vote for nonpartisan races, but it is true they can only vote for candidates from one party in the primary.

Regarding open primaries, they in no way give preference to one party over another. An open primary is where all candidates appear on the same ballot, and all voters may vote for any candidate regardless of their party affiliation or the candidate's party affiliation. It is a very strange statement to assert open primaries can produce partisan favoritism – I have never seen that claimed before.

Regarding closed primaries, I completely agree this has a disenfranchising impact. Many people who are not registered with a party do not want to be associated with partisanship – being forced to do so to be able to vote in the primary is maddening. And if they decide to do so, maybe because there's somebody they really want to support, their choices are restricted to candidates from that party only. Many Independent and unaffiliated voters want the opportunity to vote for anyone they like. This is one complaint with today's elections in Arizona.

The initiative we are promoting for Arizona, Make Elections Fair, would create fully open primaries giving voters more choice and making voting easier for Independents and unaffiliated voters. Although it is a strictly nonpartisan measure, candidates will have the right to indicate their party registration on the ballot if they choose to do so.

Halloween is coming up next Tuesday, October 31st. What will you go as? I'm thinking ghost or witch. Whatever you choose, please be safe.

Halloween is among the oldest traditions in the world as it touches on an essential element of the human condition: the relationship between the living and the dead. The observance evolved from ancient rituals marking the transition from summer to winter, thereby associating it with transformation, which is still a central theme of the holiday.

Every recorded civilization has created some form of ritual observance focused on what happens to people when they die, where they go, and how the living should best honor those who have passed or respond to the dead who seem unwilling or unable to move on. Countries around the world today celebrate Halloween in one form or another, from Mexico's Day of the Dead to China's Tomb Sweeping Day. The modern-day observance of Halloween in countries such as the United States and Canada – where this tradition is most popular – share in this ancient tradition, even though some aspects of the holiday are relatively recent developments and can be traced back to the Celtic festival of Samhain.

History of Halloween

Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos is a colorful and vibrant celebration in remembrance of those who are no longer with us. The multi-day Celebration falls in early November on the heels of Halloween and includes All Saints' Day and All Saints' Eve. Dia de los Muertos has its roots in Mexico, and is also celebrated in Ecuador, Guatemala, Philippines, Haiti, El Salvador, Brazil, Spain, and Ireland. In the U.S. it is celebrated in many cities including, Albuquerque, Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Here in Tucson, we celebrate with an All Souls Procession that attracts over one hundred thousand visitors.

From: History.com, By: Iván Román, October 18, 2023

The Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos is an ever-evolving holiday that traces its earliest roots to the Aztec people in what is now central Mexico. The Aztecs used skulls to honor the dead a millennium before the Day of the Dead celebrations emerged. Skulls, like the ones once placed on Aztec temples, remain a key symbol in a tradition that has continued for more than six centuries in the annual celebration to honor and commune with those who have passed on.

Once the Spanish conquered the Aztec empire in the 16th century, the Catholic Church moved indigenous celebrations and rituals honoring the dead throughout the year to the Catholic dates commemorating All Saints Day and All Souls Day on November 1 and 2. In what became known as Día de Muertos on November 2, the Latin American indigenous traditions and symbols to honor the dead fused with non-official Catholic practices and notions of an afterlife. The same happened on November 1 to honor children who had died.

What is Day of the Dead?

From: Visit Tucson

Tucson’s Dia de los Muertos-inspired event, which has been a beloved community-powered fixture of our fall calendar since 1990, is looking forward to coming back after the pandemic altered the course of humanity for over a year now. Event organizer, Many Mouths One Stomach is planning to produce and host the 34th Annual All Souls Procession Weekend with a weekend of events, openings, and opportunities to deepen your connection to the community and to your lost loved ones. Get involved with All Souls Procession Online Workshops & Events.

From: TucsonTopia

If you’re looking for Tucson trunk-or-treats, fall festivals, corn mazes, pumpkin patches, or theatrical events, you’ve come to the right place!

Below you will find a comprehensive list of 2023 Halloween events in Tucson. This list includes events where you can dress up in a costume, trick or treat with friends, eat a bowl of piping hot chili, wander through a corn maze, pick your own pumpkin, be a part of a murder mystery show, or play carnival games.

In 2023, Halloween falls on Tuesday, October 31, 2023 so many of the community events will take place the weekend prior.

After getting to see a solar eclipse earlier this month, October will close out with the opportunity to witness a lunar eclipse as well. No special glasses needed for this one.

From: Science Alert, By: Rebecca Dyer, October 25, 2023

This month has given us some truly breathtaking sky displays, and the weekend ahead holds another treat. On October 28, the Moon will put on a spectacular show in the form of a partial lunar eclipse.

Known as a 'Hunter's Moon' in the Northern Hemisphere, folklore holds that the bright end to the October lunar cycle once would have provided the perfect evening light to track summer-fattened game before winter.

How Does a Lunar Eclipse Work?

Biking and climbing, these are my kind of folks.

From: The Seattle Times, By: Terry Wood, October 16, 2023

Some outdoor adventurers prioritize going green, using a hybrid or electric vehicle to get to the trailhead. A rare few qualify as ultragreen — Jeff Hashimoto and Langdon Ernest-Beck of Ellensburg are part of that uncommonly committed club.

This past summer, Hashimoto, a 52-year-old science teacher and running coach at Ellensburg High School, and Ernest-Beck, 23, a longtime neighbor of Hashimoto’s and a regular climbing partner, scaled the 100 tallest peaks in Washington state in 107 days — a prodigious mountaineering achievement. 

Even more impressively, they did so without using motorized transportation. 

A well fed Tumamoc Hill roadrunner!

photo: The Flock's roving naturalist, artist & photographer at large, Cita Scott

From: National Wildlife Foundation

With speeds upward of 25 miles (40 kilometers) an hour, roadrunners definitely earn their name. They are quick on the ground without losing their ability to fly, and will fly short distances to perch on branches, posts, and rocks. Greater roadrunners—members of the cuckoo family—are about two feet (0.6 meters) tall with long, thin legs. They have mottled brown-and-tan feathers. The tail is long and sticks out to help the roadrunner balance when standing and running. Roadrunners have a crest at the top of the head that can puff up when the bird is trying to communicate with other roadrunners. Roadrunners call with a series of "coo" sounds.

From: Healthline, By: Joe Leech, MS, February 1, 2023

Diatomaceous earth is a unique type of sand that consists of fossilized algae. It has begun appearing on the market as a dietary supplement and is promoted as having several health benefits.

Does Diatomaceous Earth Have Health Benefits?

Food-grade diatomaceous earth has recently become popular as a dietary supplement.

It is claimed to have the following health benefits:

• Cleanse the digestive tract.
• Support healthy digestion.
• Improve cholesterol and heart health.
• Provide the body with trace minerals.
• Improve bone health.
• Promote hair growth.
• Promote skin health and strong nails.

However, not many quality human studies have been done on diatomaceous earth as a supplement, so most of these claims are theoretical and anecdotal.

The Flandrau Science Center has some special events planned for this Halloween weekend. I can't think of a better way to spend it.

From: Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium

The mad scientists at Flandrau have concocted some terrifically spooky science fun for people of all ages!

Join us for activities, special planetarium presentations, laser light music shows, and trick-or-treating!

A monarch butterfly and monarch caterpillar

photo: The Flock's roving naturalist, artist & photographer at large, Cita Scott

From: World Wildlife Foundation

Monarch butterflies embark on a marvelous migratory phenomenon. They travel between 1,200 and 2,800 miles or more from the northeast United States, and southeast Canada to the mountain forests in central Mexico, where they find the right climate conditions to hibernate from the beginning of November to mid-March. The monarch butterfly is known by scientists as Danaus plexippus, which in Greek literally means "sleepy transformation." The name evokes the species' ability to hibernate and metamorphize. Adult monarch butterflies possess two pairs of brilliant orange-red wings, featuring black veins and white spots along the edges. Males, who possess distinguishing black dots along the veins of their wings, are slightly bigger than females. Each adult butterfly lives only about four to five weeks.

Milkweed is the only plant on which monarchs will lay their eggs and the only source of food for baby caterpillars

This mule is very special to Louise, and she can always count on him to get her where she's going.

Louise and Pepe spending some time together in the Sonoran Desert.

From: SPANA

Mules are one of the most commonly used working animals in the world, highly prized for their hardiness and docile nature. In countries from North Africa to Southeast Asia, mules pull carts to market, carry people across rough terrain, and help their owners to till the soil. SPANA treats thousands of mules each year through our centres and mobile clinics and works with their owners to provide better care and understanding of these misunderstood animals.

If you’re not sure what a mule is, read on to learn more about these hardworking creatures and the contributions that they make to people’s lives all over the world…

photo: Red Violet Art

Don't Be Shy: Share Your Stories!

I'm looking forward to sharing more of your personal stories - oral, written, or otherwise, as we enter our second year. I'd so love to present them to The Flock, hit a mailbox below to share your story.

Holualoa Ed Fit Wellness & Culture 2

520-818-4433

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