December 7, 2011
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Ants
God says to watch ants. The only time I do this is when I am stuck waiting, which happens a lot in Brazil. It also happens that there are a lot of ants in Brazil, so you are stuck watching them more than you want. When I was little, I watched ants a lot. Funny, because God says to be like a child. I would rescue stray ants that would roam the house. I’d rescue them from mom’s squishing and dad’s spraying. I felt like a hero. I cried when the ant died in “Honey I Shrunk the Kids.” Ants and I were friends.
Then I came to Brazil. The land of ants. Brazil is a creative, colorful, tropical country full of creative, colorful, tropical people. And ants. So many different kind of ants. I met fire ants that bit my toes when I played soccer barefoot. I met little ants that floated around in my lemonade, getting into any food I didn’t refrigerate. I met ants that ate the glue out of my books, ants that joined me on picnics, ants that crawled up the tree after me, but most interestingly, I met tanaguras.
Tanaguras are the size of my big toe. They come out after the rain and children splash around in puddles, collecting them in buckets. I ran around after them, laughing at the fun, but only managed to catch one. I proudly showed it to Junior who said “Wonderful! Now you can eat it!”
All this from watching ants. Look where it gets you. Pretty great the things that happen when you listen to God.
