After several months of doing building work at the weekends I finally got a Sunday off and lay on the sun lounger reading a book. Life can't all be about work. The sun was hot and the neighbours were mercifully out at someone else's barbecue for a change so we had a break from the relentless thumping base that comes from their all weather garden speakers whenever the sun shines. Instead we heard the sweet harmonics of undigitlised birdsong from the woods at the back.
I happened to look down from reading, and through the increased magnification of my reading glasses, noticed an ant making it's way across the patio. Nothing remarkable about that except that it was carrying the carcass of a much larger insect. I know that ants are said to be incredibly strong but it is only when you see one carrying several times its body weight that you fully realise just how strong they are.
Due to this great dead carcass it couldn't see (or sense?) a lot in front of it but it clearly had purpose and direction. When it abruptly hit an obstacle, such as a twig it backed up and moved around it. The insect it carried was stretched across its front like an abnormally wide load but without the flashing lights and traffic jam building up behind. It held the dead insect high (by ant's standards) and moved at an amazing rate. Then it hit a rough patch of what looked like congealed wood pigeon's crap (yes I should clean it up) and it ground to a halt. It pushed, it lifted, it moved sideways and after each one of these attempts it immediately modified its actions until eventually it turned itself around and walked backwards across the rough terrain dragging its load. It was so clever and effective that I almost burst into spontaneous applause.
When it got to the nest the other ants no doubt gratefully took the load, they could even have had a party while he regaled them with stories of his heroic effort across the mountain of bird crap. I wondered what reward he got for this work. I can't imagine that it spent the rest of the afternoon on the sun lounger with its feet up and a cool drink. I suspect that it went straight back out for more food, programmed as it is to work for the common good. And it will also never know that it had an admiring audience and even induced a twinge of guilt in me. A twinge of guilt that is, for me, the quintessential ingredient of idle pleasure.
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About Me
- Roger Bisby
- I entered the building industry as an apprentice plumber. In those days we still wiped lead joints with a blow lamp and moleskin so you can tell I'm no spring chicken. I went on to train as a college lecturer and have also run my own building company for nearly 30 years. I specialise in trouble shooting and have a dogged determination to get to the bottom of difficult problems. I put these talents to good use as the regular expert on London Broadcasting Company’s (LBC) Fix It Phone In which remained one of their most popular shows throughout its 15 year run. My television work includes appearances as the resident expert on The Terrace (BBC), Watchdog (BBC), Rogue Traders (BBC) and House of Horrors (ITV). I currently work for trade publications including Professional Builder, Professional Electrician, Professional Heating and Plumbing Installer, and Professional Housebuilder and Property Developer. More recentley I've been developing a website called Self Builder, which you can see here: www.selfbuilder.net
1 comment:
This must be how Father's Day turns out when you don't plan anything.
I sat in the sun on my garden bench watching my kids fret over a dying bee in our paddling pool. I told them that if action were to be taken, it should be to put it out of its misery. They looked at me as if I were a monster, and then delicately fished it out and put it on a warm grey slab. After a few minutes of shaking and twitching, the bee started to fire-up its wings and then managed a few laps of the lawn at low-altitude just to check all was OK. Then it flew off at high speed to the delight of my children, and my mild shame.
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