'Ant'ics

The past several weeks I have noticed a sparse little trail of ants crawling on my kitchen counter close to the sink area. While I pride myself on having a fairly clean kitchen, those little ants seem to be able to find even the smallest little speck of a crumb. When I first saw those little critters, I thought I'd try to do something to get rid of them, but here it is a few weeks later and they are still here. I haven't gotten rid of them, and in fact I've even started to enjoy their appearance as they run to and fro getting food for their ant hill friends.

One day I noticed that whenever I'd come into the kitchen they would all scurry back into the small crack in the window where they had come from. I just thought that they were scared of the "big giant" that I am to them, and found it curious that each time I showed up they would all run away. Yesterday morning I walked into the kitchen, saw the typical little trail of ants and waited around for them to go running...but they didn't, they stayed. Hmm, I started to wonder why they chose this time to be brave, and then I figured it out. I hadn't washed my hands yet, so the water hadn't been turned on---time to test a theory. I turned on the water and sprayed it close to where the ants were walking down into the sink, and you know what, they all turned around and ran for the hills! It was so funny! Also, whenever an ant was walking toward the sink the ones running for dear life would stop right in front of them, and, as if they were having a little conversation, both ants would touch antennas and then they would head back to the hill together. Amazing! This happened with each set of ants passing each other...except for one really stubborn ant who had to see the water for himself, and then he turned around and headed back home.

Another cute thing that I have never seen ants to is give themselves a bath. Last night after I had "scared" another little group of ants back home, I noticed that on the way back almost every one of them stopped by tiny, minute little droplets of water. They all got on their back legs, and as they were standing straight up they would dip their front legs into the water and then wash off their face and antennae. Isn't that amazing?! They even had tiny little ant shadows! Haha! Anyways, I've been enjoying some of God's smallest creation, and have marveled at how wonderful He made them, and much more so how wonderful He has made me. So, the next time you see a little trail of ants, take a moment and watch how they live. I promise you will marvel at God's handiwork too!