Herding Ants

Lot's of Bananas here and different types, another way that Asia has benefited from Central and South America. Many don't peel that easily and I've found the best way, especially with those that are thin-skinned or small, is to slice them diagonally first. Did that with a couple of over-ripe ones this morning. It's hard for a banana to get too over-ripe to eat. I'll eat them if they're black with mold on the skin. Best then is the cook them, fry in some coconut oil. Yum. So I was going to do that but dogette Bandita was barking and I figured it was the trash guys and there was a lot outside of the can and basket out front I wanted them to take - leftover from a recent cement and tile Japanese bathtub construction project. They said it'll be extra for that. We agreed on 50,000 rupia - about $3.50. That included picking up a bunch of old tile, rocks, and broken cement that was lying up front. Then I went back to work and later remembered the overripe bananas. Lots of tiny ants on them. After considering whether to just cook it with the ants, I brushed off what I could and rinsed the rest and got it cooking. I told the zillion that remained that I was sorry for their loss of so many comrades and it was my fault for leaving that out. I told them they could continue feasting on the bit of sticky stuff on the counter till I was cleaning up. I saved the counter for last at breakfast cleanup, took a sturdy thick kitchen wipe (Katrinka brings back from US), placed it flat on the edge of the counter, held it down on the corners, and slid it slowly forward and around, sending many thousands of the tiny ants scurrying away on the established route. When I was finished and the counter was clean, I didn't see one tiny ant crushed or stuck on the wipe. They got the message.