Losing the War

You have heard the phrase "winning the battle, but losing the war" right? I never really got that phrase...until today.

I am being over run by ants. They are everywhere. I have been bit so many damn times I don't have a clear spot on my feet. Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but seriously I have been bitten by ants 4 times in the past two weeks. I haven't been bitten by an ant in years and now 4 times in 2 weeks? I think they are out to get me.

It all started out in the garden. I was admiring the lovely cantaloupe growing in my garden, minding my own business, when I became aware my feet were covered in ants. I got about 10 bites before I got them all off. Apparently they wanted to play rough. Well "Game On!" I say.

So I grabbed my Amdro and Terro ant poisons and bombed the heck out of their mound. "Take that you little ankle biters!" I thought to myself, maybe even muttered under my breath. Little did I know this was only the opening salvo.

I next found ants in my pantry and on the floor behind the couch (at least there is food in the pantry, I have no idea what they were after behind the couch). Not only had the ants launched a two-prong assault, but they had moved the battle deep into my own territory. I had to call in reinforcements, namely Adam (hereinafter referred to as "my big guns"). So while I put Terro and Amdro down in my pantry and in the corner behind the couch (both sealed off so the child and the dog could not get to them), my big guns launched an offensive. He sprayed the base of the our slab on the outside and treated the four (four!!!) mounds he found.

Within a day we had the enemy on the run, ok the ants were actually just moving the poison to their mounds, but you know what I mean. By the next day, we were able to pick up the poison. I felt confident we had defeated the ants. Little did I know that my enemy was simply regrouping.

This afternoon, I walked into the kitchen and noticed a long line of ants moving between the back door and the kitchen trash can (baby boy had dropped some crumbs while throwing away his muffin). The enemy was back in force! As I began blasting ants with the bottom of my shoe, I finally admitted the truth. I cannot win. I may be bigger and smarter, but they outnumber me (by a billion to one). Their diabolical queen will just keep throwing bodies at me. I may win every battle, but I can never win the war.