d

Does anyone remember the story of the grasshopper and the ant? Well quite frankly I hadn’t thought of that old story in…….well as to how many years? That’s between me and nobody. Back to my point. For those who aren’t familiar with this children’s tale I will try to bring it down to cliff notes.  And for goodness sake if you don’t know what cliff notes are, well that’s for another day. As I remember the story, the grasshopper is a sort of Rat Pack kind of guy or for you younger generation, Brat Pack. If you are any younger I can’t think of an analogy, just google anything you don’t understand. Back to that fun-loving, party going, man about town, the grasshopper. He knew how to have a good time and was always the life of the party. Enter the ant. It wasn’t that he was a party pooper or stick in the mud, it was more that he looked at life a bit more responsibly. He didn’t feel he had the time to be as laid back as the grasshopper. He was much too busy building his house bigger and stronger while storing up a surplus food supply for his family. Now mind you all this was taking place during the short summer months. And we know, “strike while the iron is hot”—-“a rolling stone gathers no moss”—-“the early bird catches the worm”. By the way what are we suppose to “strike” with that “hot iron”, what’s so wrong with moss, and are worms really “that good”. I do have a tendency to take rabbit trails, but that’s just me. Ok, Ok, Ok back to the story!!! The next thing you know those lazy hazy days of summer are quietly coming to an end. And if summer is ending can winter be far behind. If you are still reading this something tells me you are not only with me, you are probably ahead of me. Yes, the ant is now weathering out the cold winter in his well stocked well-built home while the grasshopper is not only cold and hungry, he is so, in one of the most plentiful country’s in the world. This story takes place in the USA in case you didn’t know. The moral, well we all know what that is, now don’t we. We in this, the greatest country known to man, have become the grasshopper and not the ant. This obvious fact accrued to me this afternoon while watching out my guest house window. Sidebar: While my husband Bill and I were recovering from various aliments at “the turn of the century”. I have so looked forward to being able to use that phrase. Anyway, while we were in our recovery phase our gardener constructed a small animal feeding perch right outside the window we both had visual access too. As we recuperated we were entertained daily by God’s creatures. The birds sang, the squirrels chattered, the deer snorted and so it went. It was quite a sight to behold. Although we didn’t heal any quicker it did make the days feel shorter. Now let’s fast forward eleven years. The original feeder, which was to be temporary has been replaced several times and incidentally gotten bigger. As you see, the animal population has grown to the point that the feeder has to be filled daily as opposed  to weekly back in the beginning.  I remember when we first started feeding, the squirrels always carried the food off, storing it I’m sure. Now they just sit on the window sill and eat right in front of me. Today several were sunbathing on one of the live oaks that stands strong and tall next to the feeder. Their tummies were stuffed and their winter stash, I’m quite sure is not. Oh did I mention the tropical birds? We use to have a large number of species come through on their way to Mexico, not anymore. Oh, I don’t mean they don’t come, I mean they don’t leave. And I do believe they have given out our address to all their relatives via email and twitter.  The deer on the other hand have a more aggressive way. When the feeders aren’t to their liking, well they go after my landscaping, expensive landscaping I might add. Now does any of this behavior have a familiar ring. Sounds like the “Age of Entitlement”. To different degrees of course but there it is none the less. Oh yes, by the way, remember the gestation period for small animals is sometimes days not months. And time to adulthood being months not years. So you see I have my own seventh and eighth generation welfare right outside my window!