November 1st, it's hard to believe how swiftly the calendar pages keep turning.

It has been my routine for many years to perceive what made that day "meaningful" before I fall asleep at night. I have also asked myself and others to attempt to describe what would be the significant events of this lifetime if you were doing a past-life regression in a future life. Probably an activity finding similarity to coming up with what could be written about you on your tombstone.

Introspection is an activity requiring a greater amount of focus and attention than just allowing your senses to function instinctually outwards, i.e., it being easier to see what a mess your neighbor's house is in - contrasting to seeing how messed up your own thinking is.

As I fall asleep painting meaning upon the day that is ending, likewise when I awaken I attempt to bring into my consciousness the thought that perhaps by the evening I could be in the morgue. Then I frequently find myself chuckling at the thought of what my children would do with my many little creatures that I share my "den" with and how they would try to catch my little chinchillas, the experts at not being caught.

Chinchillas are originally from the South American countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru and live in the high altitudes of the Andes Mountains. They were brought to the United States in 1918. M.F. Chapman was on a working trip to Chile and saw his first chinchilla. He gathered a part of 20 men with him and they went to work catching as many of these creatures as possible. But they were near extinction at the time because of excessive trapping for their pelts. They caught 11 Chinchillas over 3 years. It took 12 months to bring these down the mountains of Chile and all of them survived the temperature changes. By the mid 60's there were thousands of chins in the United States and Canada.

Since the time I moved into my "garden level" apartment in late August of 2003, I have referred to it as "my cave" given it is partially underground. It was in about 1994 that I decided I would like to live in an earth lodge such as the Native Americans once constructed. Such earth lodge would be insulation from both the heat and the cold with a fire pit in the center. I used to say that if I lived in one of those at the time of my death it could just be bulldozed under and it could also function as my grave. Our culture definitely displays some kind of "nobility obsession" in that a person's intristic worth in our society is based upon the place in which they sleep. A child born in a "ghetto" being taught to be a kind of liability to society (versus an asset) in contrast to the child born into a house as an urban suburbanite with a mailing address on a cul-de-sac.

Etymology: THRONE c.1240, from O.Fr. trone (12c.), from L. thronus, from Gk. thronos "elevated seat, chair, throne," from PIE base *dher- "to hold firmly, support" (cf. L. firmus "firm, steadfast, strong, stable," Skt. dharma "statute, law;"

The Greeks culture prior to the ancient Roman Empire brought forth our word throne, a concept of elevating the human off the ground. Maybe obessity would be less a problem in our American culture if we all sat upon the ground and had to get up and down from that squatting position versus plunking ourselves down in comfortable chairs.

Civilized, citizen, civilization contrasting with barbaric and barbarians and the hierarchy of citizens-slaves; nobility-surfs; conquorers-conquered, etc. is so very ancient and follows the path of humans. Perhaps it was when the humans ceased to be nomatic and created city-states with the ownership of real estate to build a castle upon that western civilization attempted to elevate themselves as terrestrial gods? And then I do like being able to walk to the sink and turn the facet for hot and cold water ... playing games of being civilized brings with it advantages.

It is November 1st as calculated in our culture. I do enjoy and find much entertainment from etymology or the history of words. Calendar is a word finding ancient roots growing in the soil of debts and debtors ... those with wealth and those without:

Etymology: Calendar
Middle English calender, from Old French calendier, from Late Latin kalendārium, from Latin, account book, from kalendae, calends (from the fact that monthly interest was due on the calends)