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My office is set up to help me be creative and productive. Phone, laptop and monitor on the desk. Within easy reach are a color printer and a shelf full of references: books on grammar and style, as well as several dictionaries and thesauruses, er, theseauri… (Had to look that up. Apparently it’s acceptable either way. Like hippopotamus.)

My desk faces a window, so I can easily be distracted inspired by the squirrels hopping from limb to limb in the trees just outside, and I can watch the birds as they go about their business, stopping to sing me a song from the porch roof.

Oh, wait. That’s what my cats do.

Because my office is also set up to be quite the destination for my cats and dogs.

About a quarter of my desktop real estate has been catified: there’s a hammock / scratcher combo and two fleecy beds.

My bookcase includes a cats-only section.

There are three cushy dog beds, so my posse can stay close.

However, there’s one part of my office that I wouldn’t have thought was pet friendly, until one of my dogs pointed it out it.

Back when Rosie was still with us, she loved to sleep in the kneehole of my desk. I couldn’t imagine it was comfortable, as I keep a tilted footstool there to help me maintain proper seating posture.

I thought it was just a Rosie thing, because she also loved to hide and play in boxes.

But then Lilah started doing the same thing, though she never met Rosie.

I’ll be working on a post and feel the soft pressure of Lilah’s body as she pushes by me. Then she’ll lay down with a sigh and take a nap.

It’s become a favorite spot of Lilah’s. When I’m working, she nearly always squeezes her way in and hangs out there.

What is it about this small, cramped spot with limited access and little light? Why is it so attractive to my dogs?

I think I know.

It’s a cave.

It’s a hiding place.

It’s safety and security.

Don’t we all crave that sometimes?

How many of us remember a childhood that included making tents out of blankets and forts out of boxes?

How many of us would love a place away from phones and emails and requests and problems and noise and all the people and things and tasks that want a piece of you?

How many of us would like to hide from it all, if only for a little while?

Hey Lilah, is there room for me too?

Do your pets have special hidey spots? Ever want to join them?

You may also like:

• Rosie
• Hide and Seek Cat
• Haiku by Cat: Not
• Lilah Becoming Brave
• Sitting Just Quietly Under the Trees
• Crate Expectations: Why a Crate is Essential for Your Pet

Today we are joining the Monday Mischief blog hop. Stop by and visit some of the great blogs below.

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