let them eat ants

it's been awhile since i shared my kitchen with ants. in florida it was normal.
here it is not.
at first it's "eek ants!"
then efforts at improved housekeeping.
eventually they become pets.

i found a tiny hole where some were coming in, and just as i put a bit of duct tape over it, an ant arrived carrying a really good crumb.
what to do!
let her through?  send her on to her next life as perhaps a great bodhisattva?
karma is too complicated for me.  i did nothing.

where is she now?  roaming the kitchen carrying her crumb, endlessly following the ant trails that get her nowhere until she succumbs.
or did she find another way out?

sometimes i let the ants search the counter -- i haven't figured out what they like.
they have ignored a banana, but seem to like an empty cereal bowl.

we moved the cat's dishes to the back room to get them away from the ants.
the cats dumped their water, tore up the newspaper under the dishes and put bits into the dishes, and dumped the dishes.

we moved it all back to the kitchen -- let them eat ants!