May 31, 2010
Have you ever walked into your kitchen first thing in the morning and found that little, tiny strangers have moved in? And not only have strangers moved in, but there are hundreds of them, and they are eating your food. Ants. Ants. Where do they come from? And how do they sense where the food is? For the past few days I have been paranoid about people dropping crumbs in the kitchen, because it seems that ten minutes later, some clever ants have gathered around whatever was dropped, and they're figuring out how to move it. And I have to tell you about what I saw a few days ago in my dining room. I was filing some paid bills into a filing box that is close to the floor, when I spotted a dead moth. "No big deal," I thought, until I noticed several ants around it. I bent down to look closer, and I could see that the ants were holding the moth and rocking it back and forth, trying to move it. They succeeded, and started to move the body slowly, slowly towards the wall. Well, believe it or not, I don't have that much time on my hands that I can sit around and watch ant activity, so I had to leave for a few minutes to get on with some work. But, when I did come back, the moth was gone. I couldn't believe it! It was so much bigger than the ants, and they had quite simply taken it. I was so impressed that I am now sitting in the kitchen writing, watching a piece of cracker that I put on the floor a few minutes ago. I am hoping that in a few minutes lots of ants will gather around it, and I can take a good photo. I don't want to encourage them to invade my house, but I have to get a good photo for the blog page. I admire ants; they really get the job done, and they work as a team. Just imagine what we could do if we had their energy! So, for over a week I've been hovering over my kids when they are getting something to eat, saying, "For goodness sake, can you put that on a plate? Ants! Ants!" I have nicknamed one of my sons 'Senor Migas' which means Mr. Crumbs, because, no matter what he eats, he always manages to drop crumbs on the floor. Now, he would probably come in handy.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: paranoid, to figure out, back and forth, to come in handy.
1. She is paranoid about germs; she washes her hands about twenty times a day.
2. Please help me figure out how to get my car keys out of the drain.
3. Wiggle your loose tooth back and forth to see if it is loose enough to pull out.
4. That flash light will come in handy; I'll keep it in my car.