The word of the day1 for April 5, 2007 is “formication” — noun : a sensation like that of insects crawling over the skin. (From the Compact Oxford English Dictionary).
The ants are back in my kitchen. Mother used to say there was no shame in getting vermin, but keeping them was another matter. I am cleaning out my cupboards and filling in cracks to discourage the critters from coming into the house in the first place. I also have put out the baits that claim the ants will take them back to the nest and destroy the entire colony. I don’t understand why the directions say to put the baits along baseboard where ants travel. The only time I see the critters is when they are in the middle of the counter making a feast of a missed spill or out in the middle of the floor acting like they can’t remember what they went out there for—or climbing up the window pane for no reason at all.
Lloyd has been watching a program on BBC in America showing a couple of women who go into a home, clean it thoroughly and show the householders how to do ongoing cleaning. (They check back after a couple of weeks to see if their vict… er subjects are backsliding.) I have noticed that even when the place is really grotty with congealed grease and dust rhinos there never seems to be evidence of any pests. I don’t know if this is excellent selection of venues or creative filming. Anyhow, I’d like those ladies to come do our house once. Then I’d hire a daily to keep it in shape.
The quote2 fortoday is from Lewis Thomas, The Lives of a Cell Viking:
Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm
fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays
to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labor, exchange
information ceaselessly. They do everything but watch television.
;^) Jan
1 comment:
Well Jan that information about the ants being like the human race created a formication sensation under my skin. I am so glad we are bigger than them! I use boiling water on their nest sites when I uncover them. Until now though they prefer to have sorties in the garden and don't come indoors to my kitchen for their supper. Thank the lord. I once had a line of them visit the dayroom table, where patients ate, in an ENT hospital. I was horrified! Have a 'Happy Easter'. I won't be around again until next Tuesday or Wednesaday as I have family coming to stay. God Bless! Jeanie
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