October 20, 2023

Overview for this week.

1. As the world tries to come to terms with why peace is so tough, this week’s Flock re-opens with prayers for peace.

2. I am including a link to Dr. Fox's guided meditations again this week to assist in finding peace.

3. There's a lot happening for the whole family at the Reid Park Zoo. Don't hesitate to check out what's new at the zoo.

4. We have a preview of a South American textile exhibit at the Tucson Museum of Art. My friend Kristopher Driggers is the lead curator for the exhibit.

5. In our Local Spotlight we look at the accomplishments of Maestro José Luis Gomez, Musical Director of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

6. This weekend is your last chance to catch the Arizona Opera's production of Frankenstein.

7. In The Heavens we take a look at two comets that are currently visiting our neck of the solar system.

8. In Reaching High I want to congratulate an American climbing team who climbed the north face of the Himalayan peak, Jannu. When you see the picture, you'll understand what a feat that is.

9. I've always been fascinated by mushrooms. I recently learned that they need to be heated to get the full nutritional benefit.

10. In the Pet Corner, we get some advice from the American Kennel Club on curbing excessive barking and meet Louise Glasser and two of her dogs.

Now, to this weeks Flock.

The world is still coming to terms with why peace is so tough. I think it's appropriate to keep praying and would like to present more prayers for world peace in this week's Flock. The quotation below comes from the non-denominational A Prayer for World Peace courtesy of St. Paul's United Methodist Church. Following that, I am again providing a link to a collection of prayers for peace from the world's major religions that was compiled by Xavier University.

We pray for the power to be gentle; the strength to be forgiving; the patience to be understanding; and the endurance to accept the consequences of holding on to what we believe to be right. May we put our trust in the power of good to overcome evil and the power of love to overcome hatred.

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.

I would also like to remind you to visit Dr. Fox's website and try one of the guided meditation audio files that he has posted there. They will help you to relax, gain perspective, and recenter yourself.

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

I am a fan and supporter of the Reid Park Zoo. There is so much going on at the zoo right now, I wanted to pick two family friendly items to highlight. First, the zoo is about to open a new children's playground area, the World of Play. Last, but not least, I wanted to remind the Flock that it's time for the zoo's annual Halloween event, Boo at The Zoo!

From: Reid Park Zoo, By: Nancy Kluge, October 13, 2023

Located inside the Zoo adjacent to the Conservation Learning Center, World of Play is accessible for children of all ages and physical abilities. In this unique, sensory nature playground, young guests can explore the redwoods as they scale a 30-ft sequoia tree, chill out in Antarctica as they travel through a cool ice cave, and sleuth for fossils at a dig pit. There is a covered area for parents to sit and relax as the kids get the zoomies out. We are grateful to the generous donors and to Tucson voters who have helped to bring this wonderful new addition and learning experience to the Zoo. We hope you can come out and experience World of Play!

From: Reid Park Zoo

Enjoy A Bewitching Evening!

Dig up your zombies and grab your ghouls! Show off your boo-tiful costumes at Reid Park Zoo for a delightful, not too frightful, family friendly evening at Boo at the Zoo, presented by Lloyd Construction! You’ll have an enchanting time with the whole family at this Tucson Halloween tradition. Proceeds benefit Zoo animal care, operations, and education programs.

The Tucson Museum of Art is currently featuring a fantastic exhibition of Andean textiles. I just love the colorful intricacy of these works of art.

From: Tucson Museum of Art

In Inka culture, the Quechua word Cumbi described exquisite textiles that were among the finest works ever produced in ancient South America. Cumbi had elaborate, tapestry-woven designs and were intricately produced from countless threads. Virtuosic in their creation, these textiles were highly restricted in society: Inka-period weavers made cumbi exclusively to be worn by an emperor. For that reason, cumbi evokes two ideas at once: It speaks to both the technical mastery of Andean artists and the role of cloth in shaping a social world.

I am so impressed with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and their Music Director, Maestro José Luis Gomez.

From: Tucson Symphony Orchestra

Maestro José Luis Gomez was appointed in 2016, the TSO’s first-ever Spanish-speaking music director. Under his artistic leadership, the TSO has expanded the quality and breadth of its programming, with a special focus on southern Arizona’s cultural heritage. In his first season, the orchestra performed to 150,000 people at the iconic All Soul’s Procession in downtown Tucson. Most recently, the TSO launched ¡Celebration latina!, a series of concerts embracing the large Hispanic and Latinx community. Maestro Gomez has also invested his energies in the Young Composers Project, commissioning several alumni for works on the main series. The TSO presents a number of new collaborations annually, including performances with Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School, the Tucson Girls Chorus, the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus, the Tucson International Mariachi Festival, Orkesta Mendoza, and Calexico.

Watch Maestro Gomez Talk About The 2023-2024 Season

There is still time to catch the Arizona Opera's Tucson production of Frankenstein to get yourself into the Halloween spirit.

From: Arizona Opera

Arizona Opera’s eagerly-awaited third World Premiere, based on Mary Shelley’s iconic novel by the same name, comes to the stage to open the 2023/24 Season in the McDougall RED Series. With a riveting, cinematic score and libretto by Gregg Kallor, the living, feeling Creature is brought to life only to be forsaken by its creator, Victor Frankenstein. Embracing Shelley’s original text, Frankenstein gives poignant voice to The Creature’s struggle and lays bare the horror of alienation and “otherness” with exquisite nuance. At the core of this heartbreaking tale lies an exquisitely wrought plea to look deeper within ourselves to find our commonality and to uphold our responsibility to one another.

The comet 12P/Pons-Brook (12P) photographed on Oct. 8,

with "horns" in the comet's coma clearly visible. 

image credit: Comet Chasers/Richard Miles

From: Live Science, By: Harry Baker, October 16, 2023

The cryovolcanic comet 12P/Pons–Brooks, which will make its closest approach to Earth next year, has re-sprouted its distinctive "horns" after its second major eruption in four months.

An enormous volcanic comet the size of a small city has violently exploded for the second time in four months as it hurtles toward the sun. And just like the previous eruption, the cloud of ice and gas emitted what looked like a gigantic pair of horns.

The comet, named 12P/Pons-Brooks, is a cryovolcanic — or cold volcano — comet. It has a solid nucleus, with an estimated diameter of 18.6 miles (30 kilometers), and is filled with a mix of ice, dust and gas known as cryomagma. The nucleus is surrounded by a fuzzy cloud of gas called a coma, which leaks out of the comet's interior. 

When solar radiation heats the comet's insides, the pressure builds up and the comet violently explodes, shooting its frosty guts out into space through large cracks in the nucleus's shell.

From: Live Science, By: Stephanie Pappas, March 4, 2023

A newly discovered comet may appear as bright as a star in the night sky by fall 2024. 

The comet, known as C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), was first noted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope project in South Africa on Feb. 22, according to the Minor Planet Center. Astronomers at the Purple Mountain Observatory in China also discovered the comet independently on Jan. 9, so both observatories are cited in the comet's full name. Skywatchers around the world have since observed it in new and old images, with the earliest detection found in images taken by a wide-field camera on a telescope at Palomar Observatory in California on Dec. 12, 2022. 

The Flock would like to congratulate the American climbing team of Matt Cornell, Alan Rousseau, and Jackson Marvell for their successful climb of the breathtaking north face of Jannu in the Indian Himalaya.

From: Explorersweb, By: Angela Benaxides, October 16, 2023

One of the two American teams attempting Jannu is back in Base Camp with the best possible news: They’re all safe and have successfully summited the formidable north face.

Matt Cornell, Alan Rousseau, and Jackson Marvell reached the top of 7,710m Jannu on Friday, according to their outfitter, Grand Himalayan Treks & Expedition.

There are no details about this new alpine-style route in the Kangchenjunga region. However, Marvell received an $8,000 Cutting Edge Grant from the American Alpine Club for the project. Marvell and Rousseau were on their third consecutive attempt at this mighty face.

From: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

An often under-appreciated food, mushrooms have been eaten and used as medicine for thousands of years. Traditional and folk medicine practitioners laud the bell-shaped fungi for their healing and cleansing properties. All varieties of mushrooms are low in calories and fat, and contain modest amounts of fiber and various nutrients. Perhaps the more interesting properties of mushrooms are their non-nutritive plant substances—polysaccharides, indoles, polyphenols, and carotenoids in which cell and animal studies have shown antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects. Mushrooms are also recognized by chefs for their ability to create savory rich flavors called umami, thanks to the presence of an amino acid called glutamate, which is also found in meats, fish, cheeses, and simmering soups.

Although considered a vegetable, mushrooms are neither a plant nor animal food. They are a type of fungus that contains a substance called ergosterol, similar in structure to cholesterol in animals. Ergosterol can be transformed into vitamin D with exposure to ultraviolet light. Mushrooms vary in appearance with more than 10,000 known types, but generally they are distinguished by a stem, fleshy rounded cap, and gills underneath the cap. China and the U.S. are among the top five producers of mushrooms worldwide.

Not all mushrooms are edible. Wild mushrooms with white gills or a ring around the stem are considered poisonous. Some other inedible mushrooms look like edible mushrooms, so unless one is trained in recognizing wild mushrooms, it’s best to find your mushrooms at the market!

From: BBC goodfood, By: Nicola Shubrook, August 22, 2023

What are mushrooms?

All mushrooms are fungi and they produce spores, similar to pollen or seeds, which allows them to spread or travel by the wind. The rest of the mushroom then matures, typically living in soil or wood.

There are many different types of mushrooms, some of which are edible including well-known species such as button, oyster, porcini and chanterelle. There are, however, many which are not edible and may cause stomach pains or vomiting if eaten, and in some cases may be fatal, such as the common death cap mushroom.

Benefits of mushrooms may include:

1. Plant source of vitamin D

2. Contain immune modulating nutrients

3. May be beneficial for the management of neurodegenerative conditions

4. May be helpful in maintaining heart health

5. May support gut health

All dogs bark to communicate. If you feel your little friend is barking too much, there are steps you can take to help reduce the barking. Below is an abridged list of suggestions from the American Kennel Club.

From: American Kennel Club, By: Stephanie Gibeault, MSc, CPDT, October 13, 2023

Dogs communicate with body language and sounds, and for many, their favorite way to vocally communicate is to bark. A bark or two is completely natural canine behavior, but excessive dog barking can be a serious problem. You won’t get any peace and quiet, your neighbors or landlord won’t appreciate it, and it could indicate your dog’s needs aren’t being met. But how do you stop your dog from barking?

Whether you want to keep your dog quiet during an online meeting, curb unwanted territorial barking, or prevent chaos when guests arrive, there are techniques that can help reduce the amount of barking. These 10 tips will help you handle nuisance barking and teach your dog new, more appropriate ways to express their feelings.

1. Identify Why Your Dog Is Barking

2. Ignore Barking for Attention

3. Teach Your Dog Alternative Behaviors to Gain Your Attention

4. Teach Your Dog to Be Quiet on Cue

5. Teach Your Dog Impulse Control

6. Don’t Leave Your Dog Unattended in the Yard

7. Block Your Dog’s View Out the Window

8. Don’t Allow Your Dog to Greet Guests at the Door

9. Train Your Dog to Go to Their Place

This week we are featuring the pets of Louise Glasser. Louise is a renaissance woman who divides her time and talents between Chicago and Tucson. An intrepid world traveler, among a myriad of interests and causes, she is passionate about the arts and the environment, devoted to her dogs, horse and mule, and is always ready to don her apron as a master cook & baker whose jams have won ribbons at the Illinois state fair.

photo: Cita Scott

Friendship

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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