The Ant and the Grasshopper

The Ant and the Grasshopper            

By John W. Vander Velden

When I began school, all those years ago, Mrs. Marks read stories to the class. Among those stories and fables was one titled, “The Ant and the Grasshopper”.  It seems that particular story has faded from fashion.  Yet I feel the meaning hid in those words is as important today as ever.  For the story goes that as the ant worked each summer day, the grasshopper sat idly by playing on his fiddle.  The grasshopper chided the ant each day, “Why work so hard?  You need to enjoy this beautiful day.” But the ant told the other, “Yes, the weather is good today, but winter will surely come.  I have much to do to prepare.” But the grasshopper waved him off, and continued to play another ditty or just sat relaxing in the shade.   Perhaps that story is the source of the term, “fiddled away time”.

The story may not be common today because things did not end well for Mr. Grasshopper.  Seasons pass as they do and winter did arrive and the ant and his friends and family were ready.  The grasshopper found himself lacking…and well…I won’t go into the details.  I feel that the story yet has merit.  As we go through life, doing our best to take care of all the things that fill it, we sometimes forget to, as the Boy Scout Motto instructs, “be prepared”.  We rush off to our jobs.  We scurry our kids to all kinds of events.  There is the grass to mow, and the bushes need trimming.  Uncountable jobs around the house demand our attention.  Somewhere within the chaos we must take the moments necessary to be ready.

An example:  Midnight July first 2014, we heard the roar like nothing we had ever heard before. We raced in the dark to the basement.  Only a few minutes later the storm had passed while we stood side by side in the pitch dark.  What we found in the morning left us reeling.  Trees torn to pieces.  Limbs littered the front yard.  Our driveway was impassable.  Most of my shop’s north wall blown out.  We remained without power for four days.

I would not say I was physically prepared for that storm.  Oh, I knew enough to head below ground.  The flashlight was handy…sorta’.  But how do you prepare for that kind of event.  But I was prepared mentally.  I understood what I needed to do and how to go about getting it done.  So with the help of a wonderful neighbor and chainsaws, sweat, truckloads of brush, water hauled in, and eventually a generator we got it done.  It’s life, and we need to be ready for the bumps and curves that come our way.

So when I think of the Ant and the Grasshopper and being prepared I make a list.  On that list are things like, checking the smoke alarm, keeping flashlights working and handy, squirreling away a few bucks for car trouble or whatever, and keeping the insurance paid up.  There are many other things I do, but most important…to me…is have the mindset that things happen.  They have happened in the past.  They will happen in the future.  Just as the winter caught the grasshopper off guard, storms or other tragedies sneak up on us all.  But if we like the Boy Scouts are prepared, well then in the end we will be fine.

(571 Words)                            9-4-2015