There is an ant in my house, and there is a bookcase attached to the wall above and behind the desk my computer sits on. Most days I see the ant walking along the lower edge of the bookshelf, he walks at least 30 minutes every day. I figure he is on some sort of fitness regimen.
I know there are some of you, who, if you saw an ant walking across the edge of the bookcase in front of you would reach out and pinch him between your forefinger and your thumb, or maybe between your middle finger and thumb, and then you’d squeeze him gently. It wouldn’t take much, and then you’d flick him toward the wastebasket. Not me, I like having an ant in the house.
The edge is perpendicular to the ground so I’m not sure how he manages not to fall, sticky feet I’m guessing. He always walks from my right to my left and around the corner of the bookcase and out of sight. Then somehow he walks behind the bookcase and later reappears again walking right to left and around the corner. I don’t remember seeing him appear until he is at least a third of the way along the edge, I’m thinking he must have an invisibility cloak like that young Potter fellow.
Where is he when he’s not circling above me? Why he’s on the wall near where the cat sleeps. The cat and he like to play, though not as much now as they once did. One day I saw the cat trying to catch the ant, usually the cat just sits and stares at him tilting his head to one side and then to the other. One day the cat was successful. He had the ant in his paw, and then he started hopping around and shaking his paw. I laughed. I’m not sure if I should have. Was the ant just tickling his foot or was he biting? “Play nice,” I said. This continued for a time, and then either the ant got tired of the game and jumped to the floor or the cat shook him loose.
I was worried about the ant, I didn’t see him land; he may have had a hard landing. I didn’t see the ant for the rest of the day, but the next morning there he was doing his wall walking right in front of me. I said, “hi ant, how you doing.” He ignored me.
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Tags: ant, cat, harry potter
Thanks for this. I got out of bed early today, unable to sleep, you know, feeling real sorry for myself. But your piece gave me the possibility of a whole different way of looking at the world.
Thanks John, I’m glad you liked it. As you know, I often stop by your blog and always find something of interest. I especially love your random quotations and have been stealing them for weeks. Is it possible they are all available as a single file?
It’s not just ants that work out by walking. A ladybug (most likely one of those pesky imported Asian lady beetles) spent an unusual amount of time (for a bug) walking back and forth along the windowsill above my kitchen sink. The bug was about the same color as the wood; perhaps that was its attraction to the windowsill. When I spoke to it, it ignored me just like your ant ignored you.
It really bugs me, when in the spirit of friendship, I reach out only to be ignored. I think in your case; however, it was probably a language thing. You did say your ladybug was Asian.
When he, or she, is out of your field of vision, s/he appears on my kitchen cabinet. After a few laps back and forth, s/he disappears in the crack between the range and the counter top. Is it possible they have a wormhole in the fabric of space/time, a vortex with termina above your desk and in my kitchen?
I wondered where he went. Oh, and his name is Frank. He probably didn’t introduce himself. He’s a quiet guy.
Frank eh? Any relation to Frost’s Jerry McCormic? http://www.theofficenet.com/~jack/arts/depart.html
What a delightful poem, thanks for sharing. Frank is Jerry’s second cousin.