Enemies - #AtoZChallenge

Ants! Ants are my worst household enemy! 

I hate them. I loathe them. I fight them to the death. Little pests that bring all their family and friends to annoy me. What weapons do I have to fight my Enemies?

We have a spray for bugs that we sometimes use.

We have a little liquid dropper that does wonders.

Those are my go to weapons, but then...

Yesterday morning, I noticed that as I swept out the door, there were a few random ants. Aha! We had left a pizza box from the night before on the porch chair. I moved it to the bin by the gate, and yes, there were more ants under the box. I didn't do anything to them, because they tend to go away when there's no food for them. (My ant rage, I feel, has mellowed in the last few years.) 

Later, when we returned home from lunch, there were random ants all over the entry way from the porch. Not a line of marching ants, like kitchen ants, but numerous, individual, fast - as if over-caffeinated - little black ants. 

I was taking off my shoes when I noticed the enemy attack, called out "Ugh! Ants!" to Brett, and started whacking them with my sneaker. THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! It was a very satisfying noise as I flattened them one by one. 

As I was focused on obliterating the enemy, my husband had lingered by the gate to "talk" to the little 2yo neighbor boy and his grandma. Little Ying, on his tricycle, heard this awesome noise and came into our yard and up to the stairs to see what his - now apparently psycho - neighbor lady was doing. I was oblivious until Brett said, "I think he's coming to investigate," at which point I noticed he had climbed the steps to the top of the porch and was removing his shoes. I couldn't tell him "ant" in Vietnamese, so I just pointed to one and whacked it hard. THWACK! Then he found one and did the same. I cheered him on and he smiled up at the approval.

All the while, his grandma had stopped outside out gate, looking in and laughing as Brett tried to breach the language barrier and explain what was going on, ultimately relying on his charade skills to convey the message.

It didn't last very long, but boy, did we hit the enemy hard that day! A successful battle, if I do say so myself.

...Maybe my ant rage has not, in fact, mellowed over the years.