Barbara J. Hamby

Alert—Not

My level of alertness, as I approach the eightieth anniversary of my birth is, I believe, sufficient to survive in this crazy mixed-up society we call “civilization.” However, I’m not sure it’s enough to allow me to thrive and prosper. “Thrive” is sort of a mantra word for my health maintenance organization. They have many options available to their subscribers, but you have to do some work to find them.

Not until my cold morphed, after two weeks, into a sinus infection did I discover some lozenges alleged to speed up recovery from the common cold. Yesterday, when I called to get an antibiotic for my infection, I was also instructed to purchase a “sinus rinse kit,” which I did. It took me 24 hours to get up the nerve to try it. I strongly suspect the little packets of mix (to be dissolved in distilled or boiled water) contain mostly salt. However, I decided there is no way it could make my symptoms worse. The first rinse left my nose feeling less clogged, but the sinuses are still in pain. Moving my eyes today is more comfortable; moving my head is about as painful as it was yesterday.

Anyway, enough whining about the state of my health, I’ll add a little cheese to my whines. For more than a month, we have been under attack by carpenter ants. Several applications of spray by an exterminating company appear to be killing them slowly—very slowly. I’ve learned more than I ever wanted to know about those pesky little insects. I wish they were attracted to cheese, as mice allegedly are. Every day there is a parade of ants, in various stages of dying, through this apartment. I’m told they are also in the apartment next door, but not in the vacant basement apartments underneath us.

My tall son was here on Sunday and inspected the deck off our living room, from above and below, and found no evidence that they were swarming there. He also checked the structural soundness and found no obviously weak boards. The exterminators, the apartment management and we tenants have so far been unable to determine where the ants are coming from. We are assured that, eventually, an ant that has moved through the sprayed chemicals will groom the queen and, when she dies, the ants will disappear. May eventually arrive soon—I’m tired of disposing of ants.