ant wars
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 28 July 2009 19:06
- Written by Erik
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My father loved ants, at least the big red ants you find in Swedish pine forests. He liked the way they worked away on their own projects, like the planet was theirs to inhabit. We had a big ant hill on our plot of land and often, when I and my father took a break from some project we were working on, he would turn to me and say: "Look at that ant hill over there. It's amazing what those little creatures can do!"
Now that my father is dead, my mother has decided that ants are a menace. They are, supposedly, invading our property. Repeatedly she asks me to cut down all big trees -- "To stop the ants from coming. You know big trees attract ants, don't you?" -- and, in my absence, one year the big ant hill was suddenly dug out. It now has a big hole in the middle.
My parents weren't getting along towards the end. Everything was a source of conflict. Even the ants. I realize of course that one reason my father liked ants was that my mother didn't like them. But I was very close to my father and when he pointed it out, it was easy for me to see the beauty of the ants and their enormous hill.
But lets not forget: the ants too have something to say on the matter. Oblivious to family strife, they are working away, and their hill is growing, little by little, every year. And I'm letting it be. I'm leaving them to it. One day the ant hill will once again be enormous, just like my father liked it.