Day 7~ Ant-ioch :History of the Great City
by Jo Rebeka on 07/18/11
Well, you may or may not be aware that ants comprise some of the most ancient civilizations on the planet. I guess they are called societies because that is where one fritizen is empowered to tell others what to do....pondering the enormity of that concept for a moment before veering away....
At any rate, when I started this blog, I was puzzling over what to call these little guys (gals, as it turns out) and what to call their ant hill. Especially once those gangsta ants came along, it seemed important to give them a sense of community. Oh, who am I kidding? I've been here for about a millionth of a second compared to the collective conciousness of ants, and they clearly have a much better sense of their purpose in life than most of us mere mortals.
So it was in this properly humbled state of mind (and, while I was brushing my teeth, as it happens) that I suddenly gurgled "Amniock!" and promptly began foaming at the mouth. Luckily it was just toothpaste. After rinsing and wiping my face, I caught my own eye in the bathroom mirror with a glint of self-satisfied triumph. I had discovered the name of my little buddies' fair city. Of course, it was "Ant-ioch"!
Those of you who are not history buffs may think this is merely a pun. In fact, that is what I myself thought until I did a bit of research. Turns out the ancient city of Antioch is indeed the homeland of my industrious fritizens.
Think I am joking? Observe the image above, a map of the ancient city of Antioch, located in the deserts of Persia, a great center of learning and an important trade market. Now, look at this aerial view of Anti-och, overlaid with the map:
The wide blue line indicates the trade route (north to the Frit Depot, south to the elm seeds). The city center and ampitheatre are clearly defined, and to the East, the sacred mountain Silpios. CLEARLY, the Fritizens are reproducing their ancient homeland right in my back yard!
Okay, you are probably one of those uber-astute readers who says... "I thought they were depositing the frit on the West of the city." Well, okay, they got the map turned around backwards, but hey they are only ants, after all.
Buoyed with my thrilling discovery, I raced outside to catch a glimpse of the Fritizens. At first I thought they city was asleep, I did not see one single ant moving. Then as I gazed at the entrance to the city, I began to see little fluttering motion just inside the cave entrance. I scrunched down to try to see inside, but every time I would see a bit of movement, my camera lens was not fast enough to catch the elusive fritizenry. Yes, I squatted there on the ground trying to catch an image of our illustrious fritizens, but after 10 minutes (and innumerable clicks of the digital shutter) this was the best image I could capture:
At least you can see all the lovely colors of frit they are collecting to build their own version of Mount Silpios!
So then I returned to the Frit Depot to try to determine how much more frit they had harvested since yesterday.... 
This is the remains of the pile of Floribunda frit blend I gave them yesterday morning. I took this photo at about noon (which is most likely why they were all hiding in the nest doing whatever it is they do with the purloined frit. Well, technically it's not purloined, after all I am giving it to them). So, once again I did my Photoshop overlay trick and blocked out the remaining frit. What you see here is a representation of all the frit that is already gone. Something a little bit poignant about that, isn't there?
It's obvious that they are continuing to gather the frit, but I'm a little concerned that I may be causing a labor shortgae with my enormous gifts of frit. Are they gathering enough food, or are they are "frit-crazy" and racing off after the sudden riches being dumped at the Frit Depot while neglecting their families?
This is all making me feel a bit Margaret Mead-ish. Am I influencing the very society I am attempting to study? Is my generosity actually hindering the Fritizens from the important work of setting in stores for the winter? Or is it stimulating their community to higher aspirations? Maybe I should lay off for a few days and see what they do? Your thought and comments are very welcome!
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So, that is today's update. Hope you learned something interesting! Please do keep the comments coming, I love hearing what folks are thinking as they read. If you don't see where the comments, are, just click on the "comments" link at the end of each day's post. If you do post a comment, please be patient, I have to review your comment before it can be posted. Thanks so much for your interest!
