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1. Holidays: This past week, more than one billion Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists around the world celebrated the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali/Deepavali, also known as the Hindu New Year.
2. Flock Friends: This week, I have a whole family of Flock Friends who have all appeared in the Flock before. Divya Shroff shared a wonderful picture of her family, all dressed up to celebrate Diwali.
3. Museums: The Louvre in Paris was robbed this past Sunday by a brazen team of thieves disguised as construction workers.
4. Dr. Hayward M. Fox, Ph.D.: I have good news about Dr. Fox's recovery after the accident he was in last spring. Dr. Fox is doing very well, working out daily and continuing on his physical and spiritual journey. I also have the latest wisdom from his blog.
5. Bragging Rights: I have a return appearance of my Tennis friend, Nita's eight-year-old son and chess protégé, Nik.
6. Nature: Tucson has had several black bear sightings this fall, with bears coming down from the surrounding mountains and traveling through the washes in search of food. One cub even made it into a grocery store on the northwest side of town.
7. Pet's Corner: The Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade was held last Sunday, the 19th, in New York's East Village.
8. Halloween: When you carve your jack-o-lantern this year, don't just toss out the pumpkin guts. I have seven ways to use them.
9. Bindu's Corner: Bindu has shared another affirmative contemplation with us this week.
I hope you will pick and choose, and read what might touch your heart, and
that in a small way, I have been able to add a bit of comfort to your day.
Please feel free to share the Flock…
| | Now, to this week's Flock. | | This past Monday, October 20th marked the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali/Deepavali, More than a billion Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists in India and around the globe observe this most sacred Hindu Dharma festival celebrating the victory of good over evil, inner light over spiritual darkness, and knowledge over ignorance by lighting candles and small oil lamps called diya, donning their best clothes and enjoying sweets and the company of family. | | |
Many people around the world celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, which spans five days and marks the beginning of the new year in the Hindu calendar. Traditionally celebrated after the year’s last harvest, Diwali falls in the month of October or November. Celebrants honor the goddess Lakshmi, who is associated with agriculture and abundance, inviting her to enter and bless their homes, temples, and other public spaces. Lights are important to Diwali because Hindu belief holds that Lakshmi cannot enter a dark space. Among other things, light also symbolizes the victory of knowledge over ignorance and hope over sadness. In major cities in South Asia today, the streets are aglow at night, and the sky becomes a canopy of bursting fireworks.
Each of the five days of Diwali is associated with specific activities, all of which involve lighting lights and spending time with friends, family, and the wider community. On the first day, people clean their homes to prepare for Lakshmi’s arrival. On the second day, they decorate using clay lamps, candles, and various electric lights. They also paint festive designs on their thresholds using colorful powders or sand. Called rangoli in Hindi and koolam in Tamil (two of India’s major languages), these designs are markers of good luck.
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The festival’s main celebration takes place on the third night, which marks the end of the Hindu calendar year. People wear their best clothes, make offerings to Lakshmi, light fireworks and sparklers, and enjoy a feast that features many sweets. On the fourth day, people visit family and friends to wish them the best for the new year. The fifth and final day of Diwali honors siblings, returning the celebration from the community to the home.
Commonly referred to as Diwali, the holiday is also known by other names: Bandi Chhor Diwas, Deepavali, Dewali, Kali Puja, Tihar, and Swanti, to name a few. Vibrant Diwali celebrations occur in large Hindu communities around the globe, including in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Denpasar, Doha, Mumbai, Singapore, Houston, and Washington, DC.
| | Happy Diwali! | All About Diwali | Hindu American Foundation | |
2. Flock Friends: Divya Shroff & Family
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Flock Friend Divya Shroff shared this photo of her family in their holiday best, celebrating Diwali. Pictured here with her mother, Queen Bindu, husband Matthew, and their two daughters, Janaki and Nithya. Thank you so much, Divya!
Be a Flock Friend. Please submit photos, stories, poetry, or thoughts that you would like included in the Flock using this link.
| | 3. Museums: Napoleon's Jewels Stolen in Louvre Heist | | This past Sunday, in a caper that looks more like something from a Hollywood movie than real life, a team of four thieves disguised as construction workers used a commercial lift and angle grinders to break into one of the world's most vaunted museums, the Louvre in Paris, France. The thieves made off with priceless jewelry from the museum's Napoleon collection. It's hard to believe that such a prestigious institution could be robbed this way, and it goes to show that you must always be prepared for the unexpected. |
Louvre Museum heist: Jewels with 'inestimable' value stolen from Napoleon collection
The Paris museum said the jewelry belonged to Napoleon and his wife.
| From: ABC News, October 19, 2025 | |
Several people disguised as construction workers broke into the world-famous Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday, cracking open display cases and stealing jewelry that once belonged to Emperor Napoleon and his wife, officials said.
At least nine pieces of jewelry of "inestimable heritage and historical value" -- including crowns, necklaces, earrings and brooches -- were taken in the brazen heist before the thieves made their getaway on motorcycles, two ministers said.
"Investigations have begun, and a precise list of the stolen items is underway," the museum said in a statement.
The French Ministry of Culture later on Sunday released a list of eight items that they said had been stolen, which included two brooches, two diadems, two necklaces and two pairs of earrings.
| Among the jewelry stolen is this diadem, or crown, from the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense. | "The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history," Macron said. "We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor's office." | Video shows jewelry thieves escape after heist at Louvre in Paris |
What we know about the evidence left at the scene of the Louvre jewel heist
"All criminals make mistakes," said a retired NYPD chief of detectives.
| From: ABC News, By: Bill Hutchinson, October 23, 2025 | |
As the hunt for the thieves who stole over $100 million worth of jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris stretched into its fifth day on Thursday, veteran detectives who have probed similar cases said French investigators have a lot of evidence to work with.
Chief among the clues police have recovered at the scene of Sunday's sensational crime at one of the world's most famous museums are traces of DNA found on items the thieves left behind in their hasty motorbike getaway.
"That's a tremendous piece of evidence to have recovered, to actually have DNA," Geoffrey Kelly, a retired FBI agent who was on the bureau's art crime team, told ABC News. "We've always typically thought of fingerprints as the way to catch bad guys, but DNA is really 21st-century technology."
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4. Dr. Hayward M. Fox, Ph.D.
| | I'm happy to say that Dr. Fox is progressing very well in his recovery from last April's accident. He's working out daily, repairing his physical self while continuing on his spiritual journeys. I also want to remind everybody that Dr. Fox is available to Flockers online or virtually. | |
5. Bragging Rights: Tucson Chess Protégé
| | 8 Year-old mentored by Tucson's chess king | | Local Tucson ABC affiliate KGUN 9 Recently ran a story about a local chess master Ken Larsen who has been coaching young chess players for over 40 years. The story features Larsen's eight-year-old protégé Nik Jain. Nik may look familiar to Flock readers because Nik and his sister Natasha were featured in the Bragging Rights section of the Flock last May. I guess I really do know how to pick them. | | A second generation of champions is mentored by Tucson's chess king | | From: KGUN 9, By: Jason Barr, October 7, 2025 | | |
On a Sunday afternoon in Tucson, Arizona, Ken Larsen, a chess coach with over four decades of experience, sits across from eight-year-old Nik Jain, offering a gentle nudge: “Maybe you should protect that pawn.”
Nik, a second grader at Ventana Vista Elementary, responds with focus, explaining his strategy: “In the opening, I’m trying to get pieces in the center and develop.” It’s a scene that captures the essence of chess—a game of strategy, intuition, and mentorship—and no one embodies this better than Larson, Tucson’s undisputed “Chess King.”Larsen has been a fixture in the local chess community since his days as a player at Amphi Middle School. Coaching since 1983, he’s guided countless young players to success, including Nik’s father, Sameer Jain, a former Arizona state champion.
Now, Larsen is passing his wisdom to the next generation, with Nik as one of his star pupils. “When you win a game or figure out a position, it’s just satisfying,” Larson says, a sentiment that resonates with his young protégé, Nik, who already takes fourth-grade math despite being in second grade, shows a natural aptitude for chess.
“Some kids have a natural feel for math—some kids don’t,” Larsen notes, drawing parallels to the strategic thinking required on the board. Under Larsen’s guidance, Nik has helped Ventana Vista Elementary secure second place in the last two Arizona state chess championships, earning trophies nearly as tall as he is. “The gold one is an inch shorter than me,” Nik says matter of factly.
| | Nik poses with the trophies he and his class won in last year's statewide division K-1 chess tournament. His class placed 2nd, and Nik finished 4th in the individual competition. | |
6. Nature: Black Bears in Tucson
| | Tucson has had an unusually high number of black bear sightings around town this fall, including in my neighborhood in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains. This year's summer was particularly dry, resulting in fewer sources of food and water in the mountains, which tends to drive the bears down into the valley. Recently, a cub made it into a supermarket in Oro Valley, a community bordering Tucson to the northwest at the base of the Catalinas. For residents of Tucson, especially those living near washes, it's a good idea to make sure pet food isn't left out and to bring those Halloween pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns in early this year. | Bear inside Oro Valley Fry's | From: KVOA 4 Tucson, By: Andrew Capasso, September 29, 2025 | |
Arizona Game and Fish is currently tracking several bears in the Tucson area, including one that ventured into a Fry's grocery store in Oro Valley on Monday morning.
The bear, a cub, was seen darting past the registers and heading toward the produce section. Charlie Alolkoy, a wildlife photographer, captured video of the bear. Alolkoy said, "The produce department has honey cones you can buy - and he just walked past it."
| | Bear spotted in Oro Valley grocery store | |
Alolkoy, who has been photographing wildlife for decades, was surprised by the encounter. "Low and behold I get the biggest wildlife I've seen up to this point," said Alolkoy. He mentioned that while bear sightings aren't terribly unusual, occurring about once a year, seeing one in a store is rare.
This incident follows another bear sighting just days earlier near Rancho Vistoso and Woodburn. Mark Freiberg with Arizona Game and Fish said it could be the same bear. "It is a little abnormal for this time of year," Freiberg said.
Freiberg explained that the drier than normal weather might be contributing to these back-to-back sightings. "What that typically equates to is less food resources on the ground for wildlife and bears specifically," said Freiberg.
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7. Pet's Corner: NYC Halloween Dog Parade
| | Every year since 1990, residents of the East Village in New York City have dressed their dogs up in creative Halloween costumes for the Tomkins Square Halloween Dog Parade. Enjoy the following coverage and pictures from this year's parade. | | The Goodest Boys of NYC’s Halloween Dog Parade | | |
’Twas the day of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade, when all through the East Village, creatures of the canine sort stirred excitedly at ankle level. Among those wizzing by: a tempura Pomeranian, a strawberry dachshund, a petite USPS delivery dog, and a full charcuterie board on four legs.
The 35th annual parade, held on Sunday, October 19, between 11th Street and 6th Street produced a frenzy of spectators so furocious that foot traffick was deadlocked on the sidewalks. At some locations, spectators swarmed past barricades, climbing into the grass against the wishes of private security guards. Spectators stood on fences and private doorsteps just to get a glance at some of the dogs trotting by.
| | Following the slow-moving puppy procession down Avenue B, the most extravagant dogs in costumes took to a tiny stage, excessively dwarfed by an enormous crowd. Last year, the event’s longtime organizer Joseph Borduin vowed to never organize the parade again, saying that it had become “too much.” This year’s event was organized by the nonprofit New York Dog Parade and sponsored by the dog treat company Stella and Chewys. | |
8. Halloween: How to use Pumpkin Pulp
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Don't Toss Those Pumpkin Guts—Here Are 7 Ways to Use 'Em
Guts, innards, pulp—we've got a use for every name.
| | From: Food52, By: Sheela Prakash, October 23, 2020 | |
If you ask me, it's never too early to start thinking about pumpkins: how to roast and purée the flesh for your go-to recipes (think: cakes, pies, even ice cream); how to roast the seeds for snacking; and how to use it in all manner of savory pumpkin dinners.
However, in our endless quest for ways in which to make a pumpkin disappear, we often forgot to talk about one part: its goopy, orange innards. Once we’re done carving pumpkins with the kids and roasting the seeds for an anytime snack, we’re pretty stuck on what to do with the stringy pulp we’ve scraped out.
Until now that is. In our efforts to tackle pumpkin guts, we’ve found a bunch of creative ideas, including a couple of nifty solutions from our readers via the Hotline.
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What to Do With Pumpkin Guts
1. Stockpile it for Broth
2. Purée the Pulp
3. Turn it Into Chutney
4. Make a Creamy Pumpkin Hummus
5. Use It To Power Up Breakfast
6. Juice It
7. Make A Face Mask
| | I thank Bindu for coming through with another positive reflection this week. | | These Flock regulars are always here for you: | | 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 third year. I'd so love to present them to The Flock, hit a mailbox below to share your story. | | Subscriptions & Idea Submissions
Reminder: Your submissions are always welcomed. | | |
Feel free to forward this email to a friend. If this was forwarded to you and you would like to receive your very own Flock Newsletter, you can sign up here. If you have any questions or suggestions for future Flock resources, don't hesitate to contact me.
Your fan and friend,
Beth
| | | The information and materials contained or referenced in this newsletter are for informational purposes only and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a physician or other qualified medical professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before beginning a new health care regimen. Do not disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical advice or care based on anything contained in this newsletter. | | | | |
