Monday, November 27 - A bug's life

Bonus photo: I caught this little critter crossing the blissful expanse of oranges at the grocery store. Where's the health department when you need 'em?
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It begins as a simple act of opening the cabinet to retrieve a plate or a cup, the container of rice or the honey. Maybe you're getting the dish soap from beneath the sink or opening a window for some fresh air.

Suddenly you see them – no swarms yet, but just two or three walking along the edge of the door frame or on the countertop, across the wall or in the cracks of the floor tiles.

But you've been here long enough to know that, where there are a few, there's a colony.

Yep, I'm talking about ants...those pesky little cleaner-uppers that nest anywhere and everywhere you don't want them.

I've disturbed their scavenging, and they're heading back to who knows where. If I could just figure that out...
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For a while, it was just the cat dish. The little vermin love to come scrounging around looking for crumbs that Sheba leaves behind. But I'm used to that now. I can handle it. They're outside. The rainy season, however, has brought them IN.

November 16 – I keep spotting them on the kitchen counter. Where do they keep coming from? The pest-spray guy came not that long ago...how are they still around? I'm sure they're living inside the counters. BLEACHH. Gives me the willies. I clear everything out of the cabinets and spray like mad, chasing them from cabinet to cabinet, but they just keep moving to the next one. Finally, I've chased them long enough that I think I've got them all. I quit for the night. (I'm still naïve at this point...)

The process of taking everything out of the cabinets is a long one, but I tell myself it's worth it. They're hiding though. I'm sure they know what I'm up to.
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November 17 – What the heck? Somehow they survived all the roach killer (I don't play around) and have made it to the junk drawers! I take out all the drawers and spray the whole area. Finally. I'm sure they're all dead now. (ha ha...)

November 18 – Yay! I got a letter from my sister!! Hey, and a whole colony of ants, too! ARRRGGGHHH!!! They've managed, seemingly overnight, to take up residence in my mailbox, eggs and all. As I pull out the mail, they start running around like crazy, gathering their eggs and running in a million directions. I throw the mail on the ground and run to the kitchen for the roach spray. These ones are bigger and don't die quite as easily, but enough spray does the job. I'm sure they're toast. (Remarkably, they haven't returned to the mailbox. I'm sure it's because they're leaving room for the geckos.)

Oh, the carnage! Seriously, just a dozen of them gives me the shivers.
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November 19 – I'm eating dinner and watching Smallville at the big table downstairs. I notice an ant (and smush it, of course) every seven or eight minutes. Odd. I don't usually see them in here. The show's over and I go to the computer to check email. Again, I see a single ant occasionally. Now I'm getting curious. I look on the floor and trace a sparse trail under the big table and to the door frame. Bingo! I run for the roach spray and drown them. I spray a few that are wandering back toward the table and the computer desk. Why in the world are they over here?? Aha! I discover a tiny hole beneath the computer chair where a dozen or more have crawled out in response to the gassing. I drown that hole as well.

Can you see them all scurrying around with their little eggs? I can't believe I used to look for ant colonies when I was a kid. What happened to me??
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November 27 – For the last several days, I've been seeing trails of ants in the kitchen, especially along the wall where the tile meets the cement. Where are they living?? I can't pinpoint it.

Today is my coteacher's half-birthday, and we pull out the "special cup" so she can feel special on her special day. It lights up in multi-colors and makes the water all sparkly! (I know, it's silly. But hey, simple pleasures, right?) As I pull out the cup, I can't help but notice an unusually high number of ants crawling along the framework of the upper cabinets. I start opening doors. (You should know that I've got goosebumps just writing this...)

I'm sure I've checked every cabinet, but I open one more. WAAAAAHHHH!!! There must be three hundred little ants all swarming and squirming around the hinges of the cabinet door! I jump up and down, howling and nearly in tears. I cringe and wail in the arms of my oldest student who tries in vain to comfort me. She's used to ants... My coteacher takes care of the spraying this time, as I am completely and utterly worthless at this point.

I guess I've discovered my phobia.