The Ant and the Grasshopper

The Ant and The Grasshopper – Excuse Me?

Did you ever wonder where the ants go in winter? Yeah, I know. I guess I have too much time on my hands. I should get busy with my housework.  But hopefully the ants are not inside my house. But I have wondered if they are living underground in a little world like you see in the movies? I have had enough of them living in my containers and struggling to get rid of them. But then I wonder what they do in winter. Have they worked all year and stored up food for winter somewhere?

I hadn’t really thought about it, but I guess the ants go into hibernation in their multi-level condos underground. The deeper they are, the warmer the soil stays, so they can just doze the winter away. Ants can also live under the bark of a tree though that seems to be the colder of the options.

I think the snow and ice that accumulates would tend to make this option the less comfortable. But then again these ants might be the troublemakers and the Mayor of the underground city may not let them in! After all, aren’t you supposed to prepare for winter?

The moral of the story of The Ant and The Grasshopper

And where is the Grasshopper in all this?

Remember the story you read as a child. The old Aesop’s fable was that the ant is toiling away and working toward storing up food for the coming winter. Meanwhile the grasshopper plays and dances around and tries to lure the ant into playing instead of working. But the ant continues to work and store his food. In the winter, the starving grasshopper begs for food but the ant refuses and ……. I guess the grasshopper starves.

Excuse me?

Is the moral of the story that you should prepare for coming times? Sure. But is the message also that you are not to care for your fellow man?  Do you let him starve?  You don’t share?

I guess I better get out my storybooks from my kid’s childhood and re-read them. Maybe there is something I am missing here.

Wait a minute. What about the Little Red Hen? Same concept as I remember. She finds the grains of wheat and plants and cares for them and no one will help her. But all of them are ready to help her eat the bread she makes! 

Maybe I shouldn’t be wondering about where the ants are during the winter and wonder what possessed me to read those books to my children. How horrible is that?  Those fables tell stories which are supposed to teach us a lesson and I guess they do. But then are there some unintended messages there too?  I guess I don’t really want to think about it too hard.

And it appears that some of the stories are altered now to make them more politically correct.  The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza), seriously?

I start off just thinking about ants and where they go in winter and this is what I end up contemplating.  I really do need to get some housework done and get that garden cleaned up.  Yes,  my mind is wandering today. Hope you have a great weekend. And check over those older books you have at home to read the kids and grand kids. 

What is the real lesson? I guess it is all in your perception….or maybe your agenda?

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