Aesop

[image error] The Ants and the Grasshopper The Aesop for Children http://read.gov/aesop/052.html

Sometimes it is hard to create horror in a world so horrific. I sometimes break from it out of sensitivity for the situation, incredulity over politics, and personal burnout. When I am not anxious, I sometimes feel flat. Can anyone relate?

The personal horror for me is realizing lessons I never learned which now lead me to hard choices. I have always been more of the grasshopper: playing, joking, laughing, making music, dancing. Creating stories comes more from that sense of play. Sensible, industrious ants bore me. See the link above in the caption to read the wonderful story by Aesop as provided by the Library of Congress.

When I was young, my mother made me stay in my bed in the mornings until a reasonable hour for waking. In a two story house, you could hear everything happening in the upper bedrooms and I was constantly getting up early, playing. Only after getting sick midlife did I start to calm down a bit though certain other hyper tendencies continued on.

I am not pandemic ready. I did not prepare myself. I did not take the calm, measured advice of others over the past few years to build a secure life. I am a grasshopper through and through.

Though I have my favorites in the political race, I understand people who do not want to face hard realities, who cannot bring themselves to admit how a lack of planning and lack of care led us to this place. So while I would like to be self righteous, I can’t be.

I think we as a nation are where we are at this moment because many of us are probably more like grasshoppers than ants, maybe even more than we care to admit. We like to play and be entertained. I should try to just speak for myself. Don’t be offended. Just a thought.