REMINDER: YOUR SUBMISSIONS ARE ENCOURAGED | | |
1. Trekking: For the past 27 years, Karl Bushby has been on a quest to walk around the world. Now with over 29,000 miles under his feet, he is approaching the final stretch to get back to his home in Hull, England.
2. Cycling: Last Saturday's El Tour de Tucson was a big success with one notable crash caused by a wayward Javelina.
3. Nature: For readers unfamiliar with the javelina, I have some background on this desert dweller that caused a ruckus at this year's El Tour de Tucson.
4. Around Town: Reid Park Zoo's annual ZooLights holiday lights display opens next Thursday, December 4th, and will run through January 4th, 2026.
5. Dr. Hayward M. Fox, Ph.D.: Dr. Fox is always there for us with his unique insight and wisdom.
6. Wellness: From the most recent issue of Sensitive & Specific: The Testing Newsletter, we learn of a new online calculator from the American Heart Association that you can use to assess your own risk of future cardiovascular disease (CVD).
7. Bindu's Corner: This week, Bindu brings us a new affirmation.
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I hope you will pick and choose, and enjoy your reads.
Please feel free to share the Flock.
| | Now, to this week's Flock. | |
1. Trekking: A Long Walk Around the World
| | Twenty-seven years ago, Karl Bushby, an ex-paratrooper from Hull, England, set out on a personal mission to walk around the world without mechanical transportation. Through dedication and perseverance, Bushby has overcome every obstacle he has encountered, including hiking through the no man's land of the Darién Gap, a treacherous, roadless stretch of jungle between Colombia and Panama, having to swim portions of the Bering Straight while crossing the ice flow from Alaska to Russia, and swimming through the Caspian Sea from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan. Bushby has one last obstacle, the English Channel, before returning to his hometown. He hopes to get permission to walk through a service tunnel in the Channel Tunnel, but will swim if necessary. | 27 years on foot: Karl Bushby closes in on becoming the first-ever to walk around the world without transport | From: Times of India, November 27, 2025 | |
To what lengths would someone go to travel the world? Whatever ideas come to mind, they won't likely stand a chance in comparison to the determination of one man who has spent 27 years walking across the globe. He is Karl Bushby, born on 30 March 1969, a British ex-paratrooper, author, and long-distance adventurer who embarked on one of the most ambitious journeys ever attempted. His mission, called the Goliath Expedition, is to complete the first unbroken, continuous walk around the world entirely on foot, without relying on any form of transport.
The Trip
Bushby started his journey on November 1, 1998, at Punta Arenas, Chile, with an estimated distance of 36,000 miles (58,000 km). It was originally estimated to be an eight-year expedition, but it eventually became a massive enterprise spanning more than two decades, several countries, and numerous geopolitical and personal obstacles.
| It's noteworthy to mention that one of the most extraordinary phases of the expedition came in August 2024, when Bushby undertook a 31-day, 179-mile (288 km) swim across the Caspian Sea from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan. He clocked 132 hours in the water, swimming two three-hour sessions each day and resting on support boats at night. This route helped him steer clear of Iran and Russia, which were considered too risky to enter with a British passport at the time. | From Azerbaijan, he continued into Turkey and then toward Europe. By June 2025, he was in Armenia awaiting a visa to re-enter Turkey. Then in September 2025, he crossed Turkey and entered Bulgaria, and as of October 2025, Bushby had entered Romania and was 1,375 miles (2,213 km) from the United Kingdom. | Man prepares to finish walk around the world that took 27 years | |
2. Cycling: El Tour de Tucson Wrap-up
| | Last Saturday, the 42nd edition of the El Tour de Tucson was run on a cool, blustery day with rain forecast for the early afternoon. The race ran smoothly with one notable accident involving local wildlife. This year's race attracted over 11,000 cyclists from around the world. Tucsonan cyclists took first place in both the men's and women's competition, with Stephen Schaefer finishing with a time of 3 hours, 39 minutes, and 42 seconds, averaging 27.7mph, and Marjorie Rinaldo completing the 102-mile course in 3 hours, 53 minutes, and 1 second, averaging 26.1 mph. | | Javelina, cyclist collide during El Tour de Tucson, PCSD says | From: KGUN 9, November 22, 2025 | |
A cyclist riding in El Tour de Tucson escaped injury Saturday morning after a javelina ran into them on the course, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
PCSD says the collision happened around 9:12 a.m. at the intersection of Colossal Cave Road and Camino Loma Alta.
Deputies say the cyclist declined to be evaluated by medical personnel and continued on their way.
| | Worlds collide: Cyclist who struck javelina during El Tour is OK | | Flock readers who live outside of the American Southwest may not be familiar with the javelina, but here in Tucson, they are a common sight. They travel the washes and arroyos to get around town and wander through our neighborhoods to nibble on prickly pear cactus pads and feast on pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns left out after Halloween. Often mistaken for boars or wild pigs, they are not swine, but members of the peccary family. | |
Javelina
or Collared Peccary, Tayassu tajacu, jabalí, cochi javalín, ko:ji
| | These animals are often mistaken for pigs. It makes sense since they have snout-like noses, long canine teeth, and short legs. But they’re not that closely related! Javelinas and pigs had a common ancestor, but javelinas live in the Western Hemisphere, whereas pigs inhabit the Eastern Hemisphere. Javelinas and pigs have been separated for almost 40 million years of evolution! They are also known as the collared peccary because of the lighter ring of hair around their neck & shoulders. Peccaries can live in large family groups, though young males sometimes travel around on their own. Humans can often sense if javelina have been close by because they cause a stink! Javelina are quite ripe, but for good reason. They emit musk from a gland near their rear. Javelina in a family group will rub against each other’s glands (called a javelina handshake!) so that the individual scents mix and transform into a group perfume. Because they have poor eyesight, this family scent is important to help individuals stay together. | |
4. Around Town: ZooLights at Reid Park Zoo
| | The annual ZooLights holiday lights display starts next Thursday, December 4th. Strolling the Zoo's grounds lit for the holidays has become a Tucson tradition. Live musical performances and special holiday shopping nights will accompany the light installations. Preview the nightly schedule and get your tickets at the Reid Park Zoo website. | |
Select Nights December & January
6 – 8:30 p.m. (6 to 8 p.m. on Encore Nights)
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Step into a dazzling world of light and color, while enjoying a flurry of holiday merriment that will put you in the spirit of the season. ZooLights: Holiday Magic, presented by Tucson Electric Power, returns select evenings December and January, shining bigger and brighter than ever.
Savor a cup of hot cocoa and a sweet treat as you stroll through an illuminated forest filled with festive displays and mesmerizing animal sculptures. Whisper your wishes to jolly St. Nick at his North Pole station, visit with other favorite holiday characters, revel in the quiet beauty of falling snow, and enjoy lively nightly entertainment at this beloved, must-see Tucson tradition. Make unforgettable memories you’ll treasure as you experience your Zoo beautifully decorated for the holidays with heartwarming adventures around every corner.
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New this year, don’t miss a towering 33-ft showcase tree that will change colors to music – the perfect backdrop for your holiday photos. The Zoo is also returning favorites such as interactive light elements, a giant gingerbread house, walk-through, kaleidoscopic light tunnels, and an engaging light show timed to popular holiday tunes.
Please note: ZooLights is an evening fundraising event for the Zoo. Most of the animals will be sleeping in their night houses and off view.
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5. Dr. Hayward M. Fox, Ph.D.
| | Here is the latest from Dr. Fox's blog. Take it in and enjoy it. Remember that Dr. Fox is available to us online at the Institute of Personal and Transpersonal Knowledge website. Explore his site, read the study guides, and try out a guided meditation. | |
6. Wellness: Sensitive & Specific Newsletter
| | I can't recommend subscribing to Sensitive & Specific: The Testing Newsletter strongly enough. Each issue is loaded with information on the latest developments in medical testing to help you keep on top of your own health. This article from a recent issue instructs on how you can take advantage of a new online calculator from the American Heart Association to assess your own risk of future cardiovascular disease (CVD) and see where you stand in relation to others in your age range. Stay up on the latest testing methods in medicine by subscribing. | A new way to calculate CVD risk, based on new BP guidelines | From: Sensitive & Specific: The Testing Newsletter, Volume 12, Issue 24, By: Mara G. Aspinall and Liz Ruark, November 20, 2025 | If you’ve had kids, you’re familiar with the charts that pediatricians use to monitor children’s growth. They let you know how the height and weight of your offspring compares to that of children of the same age and sex assignment at birth, giving you a general sense of whether yours are on the taller or shorter or heavier or lighter ends of the spectrum. | |
An interactive, grownup version of these charts is now available online - but instead of growth, it measures heart health. You enter your vital info into the American Heart Association’s PREVENT™ Online Calculator, and it tells you your risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) over the next 10 and 30 years as compared to other folks your age and sex. (Make sure you have your most recent medical records handy. You’ll need to type in data like your HDL cholesterol levels and systolic blood pressure, among other things.)
The calculator and the equations that underlie it are the centerpiece of a new set of blood-pressure guidelines that the AHA dropped in August. They replace the Pooled Cohort Equation (PCE), which underestimated 10-year CVD risk for some racial and ethnic groups.
The updated guidelines also emphasize at-home monitoring (hence the online calculator) and recommend starting medication at a lower blood-pressure level than before (130/80 mmHg if your 10-year risk of CVD is at or above 7.5%; for pregnant people, it’s 140 mmHg systolic, 90 mmHg diastolic). The push for earlier treatment in general results from mounting evidence that high blood pressure is linked to dementia and other forms of cognitive decline. For pregnant folks, it reflects growing evidence that tighter blood pressure control may help to reduce the risk of serious complications.
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Life is similar to a boxing game…
Defeat is NOT declared when you fall down;
It is declared when you refuse to GET UP.
| | 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
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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. | | | | |
