I left a bowl of food on a table outside only

to find it swarming with ants when I returned.

Annoyed, I washed it with the hose, pushing

scrambling ant bodies to the ground as they

dashed over my hands. Ouch, I cried when

one of them bit me at the crook of my arm.

I smashed him.

Why did you do that? I asked myself as I

finished cleaning the bowl. I felt contrite.

As evening fell, I broke a cookie into pieces,

asked forgiveness and scattered the crumbs

where I knew their underground nests were.

The next morning every bit was gone,

my offering accepted.

Later, I ate outside again, leaving behind a

piece of fruit and muffin crumbs for them to

share. When I returned, three sentinel ants

stood guard around the food. No other ant

had ventured inside the line the guard’s bodies

made. This remarkable gesture of regard

still humbles me.