October 6, 2023

Overview for this week.

1. Today is the last day of the Jewish Holiday of Sukkot. We hope that you had a good week and got to spend some time with family.

2. I would like to remind you to take advantage of the guided meditations hat Dr. Fox has posted to his website.

3. This week I have apologies for being tardy with an amazing travel adventure from one of my and Mike’s favorite Hawaiian families, Rick & Claire Robinson, who have shared their travels to Burma with The Flock.

4. I have an update on viewing the upcoming annular solar eclipse, along with other skywatching highlights for October.

5. If you've ever wondered how to get those brilliant photos of the Northern Lights, or Southern Lights, we have some pro tips for you.

6. We catch up with our favorite nutrition guide and body shaper, Kimberly Gomer of Body Beautiful Miami.

7. Do you know which primary you can vote in? You may be able to vote in either one. As an independent I was happy to find I can choose one or the other. I have a primer on states with open primaries.

8. The Puʻuloa Petroglyphs in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park include more than 23,000 petroglyphs accessibly via a short hike on a boardwalk trail.

9. If you are in the Tucson area, you still have a chance to catch Broadway in Tucson's production of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. Don't miss it!

10. There was a sea lion breakout during flooding at the Central Park Zoo this week. Luckily, all escapees have voluntarily returned to their quarters.

11. The Tucson Botanical Gardens is offering a day of free workshops for Día de los Muertos Celebración in the coming weeks. Looks like good family fun.

12. I have added a new special section this week to honor two little geniuses and future engineers, brothers Asher and Hendrick.

13. This week we feature Baxter, a Mahjong playing little traveler in the Pet's Corner.

Now, to this weeks Flock.

From: My Jewish Learning

Beginning five days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot is named after the booths or huts (sukkot in Hebrew) in which Jews are supposed to dwell during this week-long celebration. According to rabbinic tradition, these flimsy sukkot represent the huts in which the Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of wandering in the desert after escaping from slavery in Egypt. The festival of Sukkot is one of the three great pilgrimage festivals (chaggim or regalim) of the Jewish year.

The origins of Sukkot are found in an ancient autumnal harvest festival. Indeed it is often referred to as hag ha-asif, “The Harvest Festival.” Much of the imagery and ritual of the holiday revolves around rejoicing and thanking God for the completed harvest. The sukkah represent the huts that farmers would live in during the last hectic period of harvest before the coming of the winter rains.

The LEGO Sukkot Movie: Jewish Holidays 101

Dr. Fox is progressing with his transition to a greater focus on online classes and teaching. As part of this effort, Dr. Fox has posted a series of audio guided meditations to the Institute of Personal and Transpersonal Knowledge website. Please don't hesitate to give them a try: turn the lights down, find a comfortable spot, put your headphones on, relax, and enjoy a guided meditation.

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

Rick and Claire Robinson are close friends of Mike and myself. They have a small agricultural plantation in Kealekakua, Hawaii where they cultivate honey bees for honey and pollination. Ladybugs police the plantation and keep it clear of any aphids.

Rick is a Vietnam veteran and a former leasehold land supervisor from the Big Island of Hawaii. They are "couple athletes", though they are largely retired now. Some months ago, they, along with a group of friends took a riverboat tour of Burma. They have been kind enough to share their travels with The Flock. Rick's description of the trip is below.

We, along with 23 of our friends, rented a River Boat from the Pandaw line and spent three weeks on the Irawaddy and Chindwin rivers.  

The River Boat on the Irawaddy River.

We first flew to Bhamo and embarked. We had hired a professor from Yangon University to spend the three weeks with us and lecture on the history of Burma, Buddhism and the impact of WWII on Burma.

Rick & Claire on a Burmese Sampan

Village Artisans

Each day we would stop at two different locations and enter the towns or visit historical areas. There were no cars in most of the villages, so we just walked. 

Bathing Elephants

In coming down the Irawaddy we met the confluence of the Chindwin and then went up the Chindwin as far as we could go to visit caves where Buddha had been carved in relief. 

Buddhist Temple

When we finished it was in Bagan and we spent several days on the Bagan plain. Many temples and Stupas had been built in worship of Buddha.  

After we disembarked in Bagan we flew to Bangkok and took the Eastern Orient Express to Singapore through Thailand, Burma, Malaysia and into Singapore.  

We enjoyed ourselves.

From: SciTech Daily, By: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, October 2, 2023

What are some skywatching highlights in October 2023?

A “ring of fire” solar eclipse across the Americas on October 14 is this month’s top highlight! Plus the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus strike some lovely poses for stargazers and planet watchers to enjoy.

You can check this map to see the path of the annular solar eclipse over North America and how much of a partial eclipse you may see from your location.

NASA What's Up: Skywatching Highlights for October 2023

From: The University of Arizona Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium

The partial annular solar eclipse is coming to Tucson on the morning of October 14th, 2023! Locally, we will see about 78% of the Sun covered by the Moon. Gather your friends and hang out on the UA Mall outside Flandrau for the partial 'ring of fire' eclipse. Look out for solar telescopes nearby and feel free to take a break inside Flandrau and enjoy reduced science exhibit admission of only $5. Following the eclipse, there will be solar-themed planetarium shows throughout the day.

Eclipse Timeline

8:12 AM - Partial Annular Solar Eclipse Begins

9:33 AM - Max view (time when the maximum amount of the Sun's disk is covered)

11:05 AM - Partial Annular Solar Eclipse Ends

Last week we shared a story from Science Alert about a rare display of the Northern Lights that turned the night sky red as far south as Kansas in North America and France in Europe. This week we'd like to share a slideshow of Northern Lights photos from the event.

From: Evil Twin Custom Cycle

From: My Modern Met, By: Jessica Stewart, September 29, 2023

Most of us know of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, but did you know that the Southern Hemisphere has its own natural light show? Photographer Dan Zafra of Capture the Atlas traveled to southern New Zealand, where he was able to photograph the Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights. While not as widely known as its northern companion, the Southern Lights put on just as good a display.

While photographing the Northern Lights is already tricky, requiring advanced planning and some luck, getting the Southern Lights on camera is even more difficult. Zafra outlined all the challenges that he faced when thinking about how to view this aurora and capture it on film.

It’s the time for many of us to see and photograph the auroras. Sadly, that generates a lot of invalid arguments about how the images should or should not look. But here's how you can capture them in all their glory.

We last featured Kimberly Gomer in the February 3rd issue of The Flock. Kimberly is our favorite nutrition guide and body shaper. Whether you're looking for a full body contour, or if you want to target specific areas, Kimberly and the team at Body Beautiful Miami can help you achieve the shape you desire. She works virtually, so don't be worried about being too far away. Feel free to call for help or support. Visit her site and scroll through the services they offer.

Former Director of Nutrition of Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Miami for more than a decade, Kimberly brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Body Beautiful Miami. Personal Nutritionist & Dietitian to Celebrities and Royalty and World Renown for her ability to coach people in losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle

• Specializing in Weight Management and Medical Nutritional Therapy to help control Diabetes, High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure, Heart Health & Hypothyroidism
• Quoted as “expert in her field” in more than 100 publications and interviewed on multiple radio shows
• Nutrition Educator & College Professor
• 20 years of In-Person and Remote Coaching

Here at The Flock, we will never tell you who to vote for, but we strongly encourage you to take advantage of every opportunity you have to vote. This includes primaries as well as general elections. Depending on where you live, you may have the opportunity to cast your vote in a primary for a party other than the one you are registered to. The website below will help you determine which primaries are open to you.

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.

From: SFGATE, By: Christine Hitt, October 1, 2023

On the island of Hawaii is the largest petroglyph field in the state. Called Puʻuloa, it contains more than 23,000 petroglyphs and is accessible by a trail inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. 

This path is the same one that has been walked for centuries, by Native Hawaiian alii (chiefs) and the makaainana (general population) of the area. It runs right through Puʻuloa, a sacred site with an important purpose. In the Hawaiian language, Puʻuloa literally means “long hill.” But it also has a kaona, or hidden, deeper meaning, too. That secondary translation is “hill (of) long (life),” referring to a Native Hawaiian birthing ritual that was once common here.

Two weeks ago, we featured a review of theatre and dance productions coming to Tucson through the end of 2023. This week we would like to remind you of one that will be performed through this weekend, Broadway in Tucson's production of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. If you are in Tucson, we encourage you to see this tribute to an icon of music that we sadly lost this last year.

An uplifting comeback story like no other, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical is the inspiring journey of a woman who broke barriers and became the Queen of Rock n’ Roll. Set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her most beloved hits, this electrifying sensation will send you soaring to the rafters.

After New York City experienced heavy rains and flooding in the last week, one of the sea lions at the Central Park Zoo saw his chance to make a beak for it and swam out of his flooded enclosure. I love the Central Park Zoo. It's a beautiful zoo that you can walk through in about an hour and see an impressive collection of animals, including a snow leopard.

From: New Hampshire Leader, By: Josephine Stratman, September 30, 2023

A sea lion got a taste of freedom — and murky brown floodwaters — after a deluge of rain battering NYC caused the Central Park Zoo sea lion pool to flood over on Friday. The zoo was closed on Friday because of the inclement weather — but the intrepid sea lion swam outside her enclosure as several inches of rain overwhelmed the plaza around the pool.

“A female sea lion at Central Park Zoo was able to swim out of her pool due to flooding of the plaza caused by severe rains in New York City today,” Jim Breheny, Executive Vice President of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Zoos and Aquariums said in a statement.

The Tucson Botanical Gardens is hosting a day of workshops in celebration of Día de los Muertos on November 5th. There will be a workshop with children's activities including decorating sugar skulls and face painting. There will also be workshops on crafting crepe paper Marigolds as alter decorations. The day will be wrapped up with a live mariachi performance. The workshops are free, but participants are required to register in advance.

From: Tucson Botanical Garden

Presented by Southwestern Foundation for Education and Historical Preservation

Join the Tucson botanical Garden on Sunday, November 5th to celebrate Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in TBG’s beloved Nuestro Jardín, our Barrio Garden. Enjoy festive floral displays and an ofrenda, a community altar to honor the lives of family and friends who have passed. Enjoy mariachi music, crafting workshops, and educational programming for all ages.

12. LITTLE GENIUSES: Future Engineers

This week I would like to present the first two winners of The Flock's genius recognition for young engineers, Asher and Hendrick Misitano. Hawaii based Asher and Hendrick are developing their STEM skills and learning new science and engineering concepts by constructing their own project kits. The projects below are from KiwiCo Tinker Crates.

Asher working on his geometric drawing machine.

Asher’s first geometric drawing. Nice job! 

Hendrick constructing his wind cannon.

The completed wind cannon works like a charm. I'm impressed!

13. PET'S CORNER: Baxter

This weeks featured pet is Baxter, a mahjong playing little traveler.

Baxter getting ready for Halloween.

photo: Cita Scott

Fall in the Desert: Sabino Canyon Dam Trail

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

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