Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Cave 2

Follow up from yesterday's post about my cave...

First a funny thing, I am reading Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham and last night she (Agatha) called the vicar "antisocial" because he doesn't like people coming to visit. Seriously, what are the chances of me talking about using the word wrong and then reading a book, published 10 years ago, and seeing the author use that exact word incorrectly? I had to stop and snicker a bit...if other authors can make mistakes like that and still get published - maybe there is still hope for a future in writing for me?

After writing the post I got a very nice e-mail from one of the few people who read this post. Then, later, I chatted with a friend on Facebook...Amazing how a friend can find the right things to say and then all of a sudden the funk is gone - or at least abated a bit. Maybe that's why the funk lasted so long in the first place - by going into my cave I was keeping myself away from the one thing that usually makes me feel better - friends. Ah, a light goes on...

So, yesterday I also talked about my Kaffe Klatch. I went and had a very nice time. The five of us just sat and talked (in German) for about two hours. Doesn't sound very exciting, but I really enjoyed it. All five of us are Air Force (AD/Ret) spouses, born overseas (four of us in Germany). The hostess was a wonderful lady named Doris who had just recently returned from a trip to Morocco. (I had to bite my tongue not to ask about "Casablanca" and look like a dork.) Doris made two wonderful cakes - a cappuccino mouse and an apple torte. I had a half slice of each and was wonderfully happy. They even gave me some great ideas about hostess gifts to take with me on our trip to Germany and Albania. All in all, I had a very nice time.

So, besides commenting on yesterday's post, I titled this post "The Cave 2" for another reason. The picture I chose for the post reminded me of a book I read as a child. I have never been able to remember the title or the author, which is really too bad because it made a huge impression on me. The story is essentially about time-travel and how one little thing in the past can have serious repercussions in the future (present?). The story has these people travelling back to the past, but the key is they had to stay on this path and not touch anything. Something happens and a flower or blade of grass gets crunched and that one small thing changes everything. In the cave picture, if you look closely, you can see a path through the cave. As soon as I saw that path, I thought of the book and time-travel. Ever since reading that first book, I have loved the idea of time-travel and have read numerous books with that theme - including, recently, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which is supposedly the first time-travel book.

Anyone know what story I am talking about - title, author? How do you feel about time-travel? What's your favorite time-travel book?

3 comments:

  1. What you are referring to is commonly called "the butterfly effect" and those who know the term these days may know it better from the movie of the same name starring Ashton Kutcher. The more popular story was "A Sound of Thunder" written by Ray Bradbury and first published in magazine form in 1952.

    I too love science fiction and have read Bradbury, Anthony, Clark, and others. Arthur C Clark was always my favorite with "Rendezvous with Rama" being at the top of the list. He was more of a space writer, but I like time travel as well. For a fun romp, read "Timeline" by Michael Crichton. Avoid the movie--it wasn't that good.

    As for ACYiKAC, I saw this as a play when I was in 4th grade and loved it!

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  2. Wow! Thanks for all the information. Once you said "butterfly effect" I remembered the term...the other books/stories I have not read yet and will add them to my list.

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  3. You are, of course, completely right about the use of the terms 'antisocial' and 'asocial.' Most everyone uses the first when they really intend to describe a person's behavior using the second term.

    And it's almost always good to get out of the cave and socialize with other people, no matter how much we don't feel like it before doing so. Humans are, by our very nature, both independent and social creatures at the same time. Glad you liked your Kaffe Klatch! Especially since it gave you the chance to brush up on your Deutsch.

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