Friday Field Trip: My Cave

The oldest known cave art can be found in the Chauvet cave in France. The most common cave paintings are of large wild animals. One theory behind this theme is that it was meant to magically help increase the number of animals the cavemen hunted. Hmm…now if I could only figure out how I could make that work in writing caves.
I'd probably doodle something like this:

(I have to say that this second novel is an entirely different beast from my first one. For starters, it has bigger horns – and it knows how to use them. I am presently firmly skewered onto one of them and am unable to budge from chapter thirteen. But enough about the-novel-that-is-slurping-my-brain-out-with-a-straw. This post is about caves. And magic.)
The cavemen were on to something when they lived in caves. Caves sheltered them from the elements and made them feel safe. Inside them, they didn't have to worry about being eaten alive or drowning in tar pits.
There are arguably less life-threatening dangers surrounding us today, but one doesn't need the threat of a horrible death to need sanctuary. Whether it's a quiet place to put our feet up and inhale cupcakes or a spot to hunker down with the iPad and break our Angry Birds record, we need to stake out a little corner of the Earth for ourselves, even for just a little while. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. It simply has to be large enough to stretch our legs and spirits - without leaving any room for guilt. In this magical cave, for a stolen moment, it's okay to not care about anyone but yourself.
Today, I thought it would be fun to take a field trip to my current cave. It's perfect for hiding out from large predators, wrestling, er, writing second novels while the kiddos are in school, and exhaling. Are you ready to go? Hop on the van and follow the red umbrella! (Oh, and please try to keep the noise down. It's a "library" :D) 











How about you? What's your cave like and what do you like doing in it?