OF ANTS AND OTHER MISADVENTURES

Today was family day! As our local mockingbird brigade (we have at least five!) trumpeted their "Goodmornings", I sloshed out of bed wondering how the Hell they can be so cheery in the morning. But, after a good breakfast of cold cereal, I was trumpeting my happy thoughts as loudly as the rest of them.

My family and I worked in the garden quite a bit today. As we mulched and laid weed barriers down, we found an extreme network ant colonies that seemed to be in commute with each other. That got me quite excited. Ants are my favorite insect after all.

My Dad had overturned some rocks, and just happened to hit like, three nurseries under each rock! Pupae carpeted the ground, and workers were bustling everywhere, scrambling to evacuate the little ones as fast as possible. It was a sight to see! I even saw remains of the wings the queen had shed when she found the spot to make her nest. Little histories like that just tickle me. We had to mow over some of the hills though, which I couldn't take part in. It just feels wrong to me. I wonder what Mi would think...

I was working on my blind person story right before this! I've been revising it to make it sound unlike the crap it was a couple of months ago. Do you guys want a sneak peek?

Do you remember when Fear prowled the streets of this city, stalked the ranges of the very world? I was younger then – you were too. Now-a-days, people walk with their heads held high, their eyes gleaming and bright and alive. Fear is nowhere to be found. I would say you have no idea how happy this fact makes me, but you do. No more sonar devices plugged into our heads! Not a single Snapped out in the streets! That world of hell and fear may have been a life time away, but I feel them sometimes, the old fears bubbling up, the same troubles that poked at my mind so many years ago. Maybe someday I'll be completely free. That day may be coming sooner than I imagined.
The last of the Eyeless Generation are dying out, and with them – with us – the old courages of the world are fading away. The children of today do not recoil at their parent's chilling stories. They don't know what it is like to truly be afraid – to feel that oppressive black blanket of blindness weigh heavily upon them. I have heard some of them laugh and joke. It makes me cry sometimes, that children behave so disrespectfully to those who have gone before them. At least our grandchildren are different. Arthur and Sara have raised our grandchildren so well! You should have seen Tammy during the spell bowl! She knows just about every word in the dictionary, I swear. Markus has begun his first year of high school track. He aspires to be faster than his father.
Recently, they have been asking me to tell them about you. I'm not sure I'm ready to. Your red hair made more of an impression on me than you think, and I find myself strangely drawn to the crimson of the roses that grow in our neighbor's yard. I don't want to cry in front of them, you understand right?
I'm not really sure what else to tell you. Nothing has happened since you left. Arthur started his new job and seems to be enjoying it. Sara tells me he comes home with a skip in his step and a whistle in his words. He decided to forgive you by the way. Sara and he came to me some time ago asking about you. He was crying, red eyed and snot-nosed. Just like when he was little. He's not exactly sure why you left. If you had any idea how deeply you hurt him...but it's okay now.
He came again today, his ever supportive Sara along with him. He was crying again. Tammy asked about her grandmother. He wants me to tell Markus and Tammy our story. He wants them to know about how we pushed back the darkness. He wants them to know that their grandparents saved the world from blindness once.