(photo P Volker)
It’s been two months now that we here in Washington State have been in lockdown. Two months without all the regular people traffic that used to swarm through here, our house I mean. And I am noticing that maybe it isn’t as clean and organized as when we have people visiting. Maybe this rainy day today is my day to do something about that. Maybe sort of a halftime shovel out and clean up. More lockdown to come but now is the time to regroup on some cleanliness.
I can get wrapped up in projects and forget the mundane stuff pretty easily. So usually some kind of breakdown has to happen to get my attention. That came to a head yesterday when a FaceBook friend had posted a video of ants and how they work together. That came in at exactly the wrong time for me as I was in the middle of fighting an ant infestation in our kitchen. Other FB friends were replying to the ant video with all these “isn’t nature wonderful” comments and I have to jump right in the middle of that with some semi grouchy words about my current struggles with these “cute” little guys. And then most of the friends switched over to stories about their own displeasure with infestations at their own casa.
Nature is like that, the cougar is cute till he is chewing on you then not so much. Yea, I can dig ants working together but when they are working together on you it is a little different story. Anyway, working together is a topic seems to be more important day by day as we all pitch in to corral this pandemic. That’s is what we need to talk more about.
But I digress maybe. Time to do some cleanup around here and maybe the ants would leave me alone for a while and find some more tempting low hanging fruit at your place. But the working together thing is good and we could learn some good lessons from our “cute” little ant friends.
Walking in a moment.
rain drops falling on my head loves, Felipé.
I love the Wisteria!
I don’t love the kitchen ants. I had them some years ago. Did something with sugar water and boric acid. If I recall, I cleaned off all kitchen countertops, smeared some sugar water mixed with boric acid on the counter. You don’t need a great deal – ants don’t eat a great deal. They go for the sugar, eat it, and carry it back to their nest on their tiny feet. Do not kill the ants when you see them marching across your counter. Just try to control yourself. Let them go so they carry it back to their nest. Not good for the ants, but good for you and your kitchen. I think I remember this correctly but you should fact check it online, just to be sure.
Of course, after I did that, we went out to dinner and avoided the kitchen for a couple of days. A little hard to do right now.
If you aren’t able to take the lives of any of God’s creatures, then you just have to live with the ants. I didn’t live with the ants.
Joy ~ oh, thank you for the ant news. I realized several years ago that living in the Pacific Northwest meant a life of beating back the jungle. You know blackberries, scotch broom, moss on the roof, moss on the house, moss on the car. The ants are just part of that to me and I have to beat them back at times. Other than that I’m Mr Peace!
So how are you holding up during lockdown? Are you out walking? We reopened the trail here if you are ever in the neighborhood. Felipé.x