March 8, 2024

Overview for this week.

1. I'm starting this week with an almost unbelievable story and video of a yogi meditating in harsh sub-zero conditions the heights of the Himalaya Mountains.

2. March is Women's History Month in the United States, but today March 8th, also International Women's Day.

3. I've selected Taylor Swift as our Woman of the Week this week and am including a documentary that tells her wonderful story.

4. In the Athlete's Corner I'm looking at another big wave surfer, Sarah Gerhardt, who also happens to have a Doctorate degree in Physical Chemistry.

5. In Around Town, we have some big news from Reid Park Zoo. The zoo welcomed a baby elephant to mother Semba just hours ago!

6. I'm introducing a new section this week, Bragging Rights, where readers are invited to share about the people in their life that they are proud of. The inaugural post is about my son, Mikey G. Kasser.

7. In the Book Corner, I have two fascinating books on trees by author Peter Wohlleben.

8. In Wellness I have an explainer on the Air Quality Index and why it is important to pay attention to it.

9. In the Pet's Corner we catch up with our favorite cat in Aspen, Fern. We meet her new friend Chip and listen to a little music for cats with them.

10. Daylight Savings time starts Sunday, March 10th. It's time to set the clock ahead one hour, and time to check for recalls on your car.

Now, to this week's Flock.

I was blown away when I first read this article and saw the video below. The power of the mind channeled through meditation is truly remarkable. Apparently, this is a regular practice for this Himalayan yogi.

From: Snow Brains, By: Julia Schneermann, February 29, 2024

A Siddha yogi was captured meditating on a frozen peak in the Himalayas in a video that went viral across the internet. In the video, the snow-encrusted yogi is seated in a lotus seat, eyes closed, meditating, while the wind buffets him and the snow falls around him. The yogi seems entirely oblivious to the harsh conditions and while the snow encrusts his beard and clothes, his bare arms seem to almost glow, as no snow settles on them.

Initially, people considered the video as a fake but Kaulantak Peeth, a spiritual organization in the area, identified the yogi as Satyendra Nath, also known as Ishputra due to his lineage from his guru Ishanath. The organization confirmed that Satyendra Nath has in fact been practicing meditation in the Himalayas on a regular basis for the last 20 years. Ishputra uses the tough environment of the Himalayas to improve his meditation skills. He is also known to meditate in the forest, by rivers, and waterfalls. Meditation is the practice of clearing your mind and training it to be entirely still and quiet. It is a practice that requires years and years of training to accomplish and many western people struggle shutting out thoughts and quieting their minds to simply be in the moment. It is considered a transcendent state of consciousness.

Unbelievable Tapsya of Naga Sadhu in Himalaya

While March is Women's History Month in the United States. Today, March 8th, is honored throughout the world as International Women's Day.

From: UN Women

This International Women’s Day, 8 March 2024, join the United Nations in celebrating under the theme Invest in women: Accelerate progress.

The world is facing many crises, ranging from geopolitical conflicts to soaring poverty levels and the escalating impacts of climate change. These challenges can only be addressed by solutions that empower women. By investing in women, we can spark change and speed the transition towards a healthier, safer, and more equal world for all.

Key Data Points

• $360 B An additional $360 billion is needed per year to achieve gender equality.

• 20% Closing gender gaps in employment could boost GDP per capita by 20 per cent. 

• 300M Closing gaps in care and expanding services with decent jobs could spark almost 300 million jobs by 2035.

Mattel's 2024 International Women's Day Barbie dolls.

Actors Helen Mirren (UK) and Viola Davis (US), singers Shania Twain (Canada) and Kylie Minogue (Australia), influencer Maira Gomez (Brazil), model Nicole Fujita (Japan), director Lila Avilés (Mexico) and comedian Enissa Amani (Germany) were all presented with Barbies of their own.

From: Women's Wear Daily, By: Hannah Malach, March 6, 2024

Barbie is celebrating International Women’s Day with the reveal of eight one-of-a-kind “role model” dolls based on famous faces from around the globe.

While not for sale, Mattel has released its one-of-a-kind dolls to the masses before: the company presented supermodel Claudia Schiffer with a miniature look-a-like in 2020 before it hit shelves for the first time in 2023.

Helen Mirren gets own Barbie doll complete with mini Oscar

Taylor Swift Documentary: History, Life, Career and Artistry in Depth

I had started watching this documentary about Taylor Swift thinking I would only watch for about five minutes, but became completely enthralled in her wonderful journey through life and watched the whole film. I saw an all-American girl raised in the Midwest and in America's favorite city of country music, Nashville, Tennessee, grow to where she is rocking the charts through common sense life choices combined with a selfless desire to connect with heart to those who come to see her shows.

Her family 's support and country music's greatest legends made this girl a true example of the American dream. Here, in America, you can achieve dreams through persistence, sweat, and respect for those whose footsteps you followed. Taylor with her family's loving support is cherishing that journey.

Emily Dickinson and Taylor Swift 'both descend from a 17th-century English immigrant'

From: Today, By: Drew Weisholtz, March 4, 2024

It looks like Taylor Swift’s penchant for words is in her blood.

Genealogy company Ancestry has found that the “Cruel Summer” singer, whose upcoming album is titled “The Tortured Poets Department,” is related to legendary American poet Emily Dickinson, TODAY exclusively revealed March 4. They are sixth cousins, three times removed.

“Swift and Dickinson both descend from a 17th century English immigrant (Swift’s 9th great-grandfather and Dickinson’s 6th great-grandfather who was an early settler of Windsor, Connecticut),” Ancestry shared with TODAY.

Sarah Gerhardt at Mavericks

From: Surfer, By: Jim Kempton, March 5, 2024

A Woman of Substance

If you are looking for a story about achieving amazing accomplishments, overcoming major obstacles, and staying humble and focused all the while, this story is for you. Sarah Gerhardt began exploring what was then a still somewhat uncrowded big wave spot in California. In 1999, while pregnant with her first child, Sarah rode a wave of significant size at Mavericks, becoming the first woman to do so.

Gerhardt was not a typical big-wave rider, nor a typical female one. Having earned a Doctorate degree in Physical Chemistry from the University of California, Sara Gerhardt proved not to be your typical person—in any aspect of her life.

From: This is Tucson, By Gloria Knott, March 8, 2024

Reid Park Zoo just welcomed a 265-pound baby.

African elephant Semba gave birth to her third calf just after 3:30 a.m. Friday morning. While the sex is still unknown, the baby is standing, nursing and sticking close to mom. Semba, who has been at Reid Park Zoo since 2012 after coming to Tucson from San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park, is also doing well, the zoo says.

The baby expands the elephant herd to five, including Semba, all to mother Lungile and sisters Nandi and Penzi. Nandi was the first elephant born in Arizona in 2014. Penzi, short for Mapenzi, was born in 2020.

Mabu, who left Reid Park Zoo in 2022, is the father to all three calves. “In the wild, male elephants commonly move between herds for social and breeding purposes. Mimicking this natural behavior, Reid Park Zoo’s bull elephant Mabu has a new home at Fresno Chaffee Zoo,” Reid Park Zoo said in 2022.

For now, Semba and the baby will spend time with one another behind-the-scenes. Zoo staff will monitor the two elephants closely to ensure they're receiving the best care.

There's a lot going on at the Reid Park Zoo. The new World of Play children's activity area is open and ready for springtime.

Reid Park Zoo has brought an appreciation of biological diversity to the playground! The Angel Charity for Children World of Play gives young guests an opportunity to travel the world without leaving the Zoo! Children can chill out in cool Antarctica, hear the rhythmic sounds of the South American rainforest, and appreciate the magnitude of the North American redwoods. Parents have a shaded area to watch as their kids climb to great heights and connect with the Earth through Nature Play. World of Play is accessible and fun for children of all abilities.

World of Play Rendering

Reid Park Zoo's World of Play

Moyo joins mom, Penelope in training session.

Moyo, the the reticulated Giraffe calf born on Martin Luther King Jr. Day tagged along with his mother Penelope for a session with her trainer. Training is an important way the animals can participate in their own health care and they always have the choice to walk away.

Giraffe Training with Giraffe Calf Moyo

I'm starting a new section this week that I'm calling Bragging Rights where Flockers can submit a paragraph or two about someone they want to brag about. My first submission is my son Michael Guy Kasser. Mikey is based out of San Diego and making his own name as a businessman in real estate. Mikey also shares his parent's love of triathlons and healthy living. I am so proud of him. I know many of you have someone you want to share your pride in too, So please use one of the submission buttons found at the top and bottom of this newsletter to share your pride. We'll do our best to get it into The Flock.

From: Matthews Real Estate Investment Services

Michael Kasser is an Associate at Matthews Real Estate Investment Services™, specializing in the disposition and acquisition of multifamily properties, primarily in the San Diego market. As a premier agent in advisory services, Michael is dedicated to consulting his clients through the multifamily market fundamentals, acting as a trusted resource throughout the entire transactional process. His passion lies in understanding the vast operations of multifamily investors. Michael leverages his comprehensive market knowledge to position his clients to achieve the greatest long-term financial success and profitability.

Prior to joining Matthews™, Michael served as an Investment Associate at a San Diego multifamily boutique brokerage.

A good friend of mine, Petra, sent me a picture of a magnificent tree in Zagreb, Croatia that we're using as this week's closing photo. It reminded me of Peter Wohlleben's series of books on trees, so I'm presenting them here.

Are trees social beings? In The Hidden Life of Trees forester and author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that, yes, the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, and even warn each other of impending dangers.

With the warmth and wonder familiar to readers from his previous books, Wohlleben also shares emerging scientific research about how forests shape climates both locally and across continents; that trees adapt to changing environmental conditions through passing knowledge down to their offspring; and how old growth may in fact have the most survival strategies for climate change.

From: Vox, By: Rebecca Leber, June 28, 2023

It’s not enough to trust the senses to know when it’s a bad air day. Well before you can see or smell smoke, it can start wreaking havoc on the lungs.

That haze you can see and smell on a particularly polluted day is made of ozone and fine particulate matter.

Fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5 (the 2.5 microns describes its size, 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair) can embed in the cells of the lung and the bloodstream, aggravating inflammation, asthma, heart disease, and mental health. And ozone causes similar damage. In the stratosphere, ozone blocks ultraviolet radiation from the sun, but at ground level it can cause shortness of breath and damage to respiratory tissue.

Both pollutants can affect the entire body in all stages of life: young and old, and even the developing fetus. They come from sources as varied as the tailpipe of a truck, your neighbor’s barbecue, coal plant, or an incinerator. PM2.5 is capable of traveling thousands of miles across the world on the wind — taking, for instance, about five days to reach the US from China.

We're catching up with Fern, our favorite cat in Aspen this week. Fern would like to introduce The Flock to her friend from the neighborhood, Chip.

This is Chip. He likes to visit Fern from time to time. They enjoy listening to cat specific music by David Teie.

Fern decides if she is in the mood for a visit from her neighbor Chip.

David Teie - Music for Cats

Unless you live in Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, daylight saving time begins Sunday, March 10th, 2024. So set your clocks forward one hour at 12:00am. it's simple, just remember to spring ahead and fall behind. If you’re wondering why some states and territories don't change their clocks, you can find out here. Sunday is also the start of "Vehicle Safety Recalls Week,” as explained below.

It's "Vehicle Safety Recalls Week," an initiative by federal regulators to encourage drivers to check if their car has been recalled during the two days a year when clocks in the U.S. change.

From: NPR, By: Camila Domoneske, March 8, 2024

A shoddy part. Faulty design. A mistake on the assembly line discovered too late. All those things can cause potentially dangerous flaws in vehicles. And when automakers discover them, they're required to fix them, for free.

And while manufacturers have to send out letters to notify drivers, it's all too easy to miss the memo. The result? Millions of vehicles are driving around with potentially dangerous problems, which owners could get fixed for free — if they knew about it.

That's the logic behind the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's "Vehicle Safety Recalls Week," which started in 2020 and now happens twice a year, including March 4-10 this spring.

It almost takes longer to say the name of the week than to explain it.

The idea: when the clocks change — like they will on Sunday — check for recalls.

These Flock regulars are always here for you:

• Dr. Hayward M. Fox, Ph. D. and The Institute of Personal and Transpersonal Knowledge
• Kimberly Gomer of Body Beautiful Miami, our body shaper and fee-based nutritionist. 
• Kyria Sabin of Body Works Fletcher Pilates, she's the best.
• Where in the World is Zoe
• Sarah Smallhouse & Make elections Fair Arizona - Sign the petition here!

In Coming weeks: we'll be sharing more investigative articles from our roving reporter William George, original writing from Flock favorite Dino DeConcini, and an update on Marolt brother's coming expedition to Argentina.

Petra in Zagreb, Croatia.

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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