Friday the Thirteenth

Most people consider any Friday that falls on the 13th day of a month to be "unlucky."  Why?  Well, it goes back to Friday, the 13th day of October in 1307 - in the country of France.  On that day, King Phillip IV and Pope Clement V essentially declared war on the Order of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon which is in Jerusalem.  The Order soon became known as the Kinghts Templar. The Order was created in 1118 to protect Christian pilgrims as they traveled to sacred places in the Middle East, or Outremer, by a group of ex-Crusaders, with the blessing of King Baldwin of Jerusalem. In 1129, the group was approved by the Council of Troyes; and then it won the patronage of Bernard of Clairveaux, who became a Saint.  In 1139, Pope Innocent II declared that a member of the Knights Templar could pass through any border unmolested, owed taxes to no one, and had only the Pope, himself, to answer to.
   First an order of Poor Monks, the Papal approval made the Knights a charity throughout Europe, and wherever the Church was established.  Taking oaths of poverty, the Knights gave the Temple great amounts of land, coins and jewelry.  Soon the Order was not only protecting the pilgrims to the Middle East, they were also protecting the pilgrims' valuables at home, and issuing letters of credit.  The Knights Templar became the foremost bankers of Europe, lending money to Kings, Princes, Popes and churches.  The person who owed the greatest amounts of money to the Knights Templar was King Phillip IV of France.  In 1306, he had all Jews removed from his kingdom, and had his minions gather the monies due the Jewish bankers for the crown.  Owing the Lombard bankers money, he outlawed them, and declared his debts to them abolished.  On 13 October 1307, King Phillip IV had all assets and members of the Knights Templar seized.  The men were tortured and killed; the assets were swept into his own pockets.

-  But - What is "luck?"  The dictionary states that luck is success or failure apparently brought through chance, rather than through one's own actions.  However, the definition of luck (or chance) varies by the philosophical, religious, mystical, or emotional context of the one interpreting it; according to the classic Noah Webster's dictionary, luck is "a purposeless, unpredictable and uncontrollable force that shapes events favourably or unfavourably for an individual, group or cause". Yet the author Max Gunther defines it as "events that influence one's life and are seemingly beyond one's control".  When thought of as a factor beyond one's control, without regard to one's will, intention, or desired result, there are at least two senses that people usually mean when they use the term, the prescriptive sense and the descriptive sense. In the prescriptive sense, luck is a supernatural and deterministic concept that there are forces (e.g. gods or spirits) that prescribe that certain events occur very much the way laws of physics will prescribe that certain events occur. It is the prescriptive sense that people mean when they say they "do not believe in luck". In the descriptive sense, people speak of luck after events that they find to be fortunate or unfortunate, and maybe improbable.  Therefore, cultural views of luck vary from perceiving luck as a matter of random chance to attributing to such explanations of faith or superstition. For example, the Romans believed in the embodiment of luck as the goddess Fortuna, whereas the philosopher Daniel Dennett believes that "luck is mere luck" rather than a property of a person or thing. Carl Jung viewed luck as synchonicity, which he described as "a meaningful coincidence".

  I'd have to say that the day of 13 October 1307 was a bad day for the Knights Templar.  Period.

How Did I End Up...?

I had an enjoyable morning yesterday - loved my kits, walked Rosie, and then had a tour of the production facility where my nephew, Mike, works.  On the way home from there, I developed a splitting headache, which turned into a nasty migraine.   I managed to get over to Redwood and feed and medicate Sasquatch and Tugger, and then I collapsed in my sister's spare bedroom, with Boo for a bedmate.  I guess I was tossing and turning too much, after I let Boo out for her last potty break, because she soon left the bed.  I had very vivid dreams, and finally crawled out of bed at 6:30 to feed Boo her breakfast and let her out.
  First, I let Boo out into the back yard, then I took a quick shower and dressed.  Once I let Boo back inside, I grabbed her dish, as she sat in the middle of the kitchen and gave her, "Ah-oooooo-ooooo-oooo" yodel, and headed for the garage.  There is a door from the kitchen to the garage, followed by 4 steps down, and the garage floor.  Boo's food is kept on the garage floor.  My brother-in-law also likes to keep anything he believes might be useful inside the garage - there's no room for the car, and just enough room for winding trails through all of his stockpiled items.  I have been up and down those four steps thousands of times, but this morning, for whatever reason, I missed the second step - the heel of my left foot caught the edge of the third step, and I flew down.  I remember seeing my arms flail wildly, like windmills, as I tried to keep my balance.  I don't know when I let go of the dog bowl - but there was a tremendous metallic clatter at some point in time.  I kept thinking that I had just got my new glasses, and I really didn't want to fall face first... Somehow I ended up on my left buttock, with my left arm and hand still moving frantically.  This was followed by a large piece of metal falling forward, to slam the back of my head and bounce back; followed by about 5 loops of metal-enclosed hose line that fell around my head like a necklace.  I sat there for a minute and thought.
  My first thought was that I was one clumsy person.  My second thought was that if I'd broken any bones, I'd be mad; followed by the thought that if I had broken anything, I had to get back upstairs and across the kitchen to reach a phone to call for any help.  So I flexed my hands and arms, and then my feet and legs, and then I removed the metal hose length from my neck.  I had trouble getting the metal plate I'd fallen against to lean back into it's original position, but, after pushing at it for a minute or so, was able to get on my knees. Then I spotted Boo's food bowl, off to the left.  I grabbed it, and got to my feet with a groan.  I filled the measuring cup with dog kibble, put it in the bowl, and climbed back up the (entire four) steps.  Boo met me with a howl of delight.  I had her sit, gave her her food, released her, and then went to check on my injuries.
  I've found only bruises and scrapes, and the knuckles on my left hand look like hamburger - but, otherwise I seem to be OK.  I'm starting to get stiff and sore, but that's only natural.  I'll be taking naproxin for the few days, just to ease the aches and pains.  My last thought about this stupid fall?  I was very lucky!!