antics

 The ant is knowing and wise,

but he doesn't know enough to take a vacation.

-Clarence Day

ants disappearing by the dozens into a hole in the floor - the hole is sealed now...thanks Mark!

Since our return to our home in Davao,

the ants have been relentless.

First they attacked the kitchen;

their appetites for our unopened, unguarded 

penne noodles and corn flakes was totally understandable.

I mean, it's a free lunch, guys!

But when I secured all the food carefully away in plastic bins,

the ants persisted, starting in on even more delicious entres,

like our paper napkins,

our rolling pin (maybe there were some vestiges of bread dough on it?)

and our ziploc bags.

Those bags are precious.  

And those crazy ants ate holes in the bottoms of them, 

so that when I popped them open to fill with leftovers,

the food fell out the other side.

Then the ants started eating Michael.

Or maybe more accurately, they infested his bed (again),

biting him in the middle of the night.

The whale is endangered,

while the ant continues to do just fine.

-Bill Vaughan 

ants gulping down Terro...the most effective ant poison we've found

 We did many a battle, with chemicals

and perfume (they hate it!) and rubbing alcohol on the walls,

 while sealing more holes

and using elaborate ant traps to keep food out of their reach.

this ant trap is keeping bread dough off limits...

So now, though we see an occasional scout,

life is fairly bug-free.

Except for our bulletin board.

They've been feasting on it for over two weeks now.

They eat into the background paper,
dusting the stairs below with white paper dust.

They bore into the cork, maybe to get at the glue behind it.

And though we've fed them dose after dose of Terro poison,

these ants just keep returning, with no sign of slowing.

They consume the poison, and then go back to the paper.

"It is not enough to be busy,

so are the ants. 

The question is: what are we busy about?"

 --Henry David Thoreau

My mind is boggled by their insistence in consuming my bulletin board.

(At least they aren't eating the photos of our friends posted there!)

I mean, if they have to eat something,

I'm happy for them to eat the bulletin board paper 

rather than our ziploc bags, or our food, 

or our children.

The ants remain unceasingly busy.

But is this obsession of theirs really worth all their work?

Watching them makes me wonder,

What am I busy about?

I'm not a huge Thoreau fan,

but he's got it right in the quote above.

What am I busy about?

Am I busy with what everyone else is currently obsessed, and investing time in?

 Am I consumed with the demands that seem so urgent, that scream for my attention?

Or am I being intentional with my busyness, 

focused on things of eternal worth,

things that will nourish and bless others and myself?

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; 

yes, establish the work of our hands!

Psalm 90:17