The Grasshopper and the Ant

« The grasshopper, having sung all summer long, found herself most destitute, when the North Wind came. Not a morsel to her name of either fly or worm. She blurted out her tale of want to her neighbour Mistress Ant, and begged her for a loan of grain to last her till the coming spring. » – Jean de la Fontaine

I’ve always hated that damn grasshopper who thinks only of singing and having fun, while the ant next door is hardworking, foresighted, and doesn’t mess around when it comes time to prepare for winter.

I’ve long identified as an ant. I got my first job in elementary school (delivering newspapers), then throughout high school, I had summer jobs. But I also worked in the fall (apple picking) and even in winter, where I sold Christmas trees for $3 an hour, in the cold, in the wind, without a place to warm up (maybe some exploitation by the employer here?). After high school, I joined military college, partly because I knew I would get paid to continue my studies and have a guaranteed job for the coming years.

This relentless drive to work and accumulate money probably comes from my mother, who came from a poor family of 14 children in a remote area. My mother always feared running out of money, and even when she had more towards the end of her life, she didn’t know how to spend it. She was an ant at heart, and she deeply despised grasshoppers, who think only about having fun, even if it means begging their neighbors for scraps when times are tough.

This summer that just ended, I made the choice to be a grasshopper. I’ve been working on contract for almost 10 years and lost my contract at the beginning of the summer, and then I did nothing, or so little, to find another source of income. I made a conscious choice to enjoy the pleasures of summer, and I loved it.

I did nothing productive. I blogged, surfed the internet, made Facebook posts about everything and nothing, and read. I didn’t work out more than usual. I went shopping at Costco during the times when only white-haired people were there. A cashier even had the audacity to ask me if I had a senior’s card to take advantage of the discounts! I went on a few little trips, canoeing with my brother, and as a family, we traveled to Hawaii, that piece of paradise on earth. In short, I had fun, and that was the priority.

Summer is beautiful. It may be obvious to many, but for me, summer hasn’t always been a pleasant season. For one, I hate sweating. Secondly, I can’t handle the heat in general, and I find it hard to sleep when it’s too hot. In contrast, when it’s cold, you can always add another layer, be it clothing or a blanket; but when it’s too hot, you can’t exactly strip off your skin to cool down! You just have to endure the heat.

I started appreciating summer for the first time during our world tour in 2014-2015. We chose to leave Quebec in August, and since there was no question of carrying winter clothes, we decided to follow the sun; first in South America, then in Oceania, then in Southeast Asia. We were in Cambodia in April, the hottest month of the year. Visits to Angkor Wat started at 5 a.m. because the heat became unbearable after 9 a.m. It was mainly in Cambodia that I learned to tolerate marinating in my own sweat from morning till night.

But summer is more than just the sometimes unbearable heat; it’s festivals, barbecues, and beers on the terrace. Short skirts too, if I’m honest with myself.

Italians, Spaniards, Greeks, mostly those in the south, fascinate me with their ability to do nothing, in the sun. The French language even has a word for it: « farniente. » It comes from the Italian expression « far niente »: « far » is a contraction of « fare, » meaning « to do, » and « niente » means « nothing. »

Doing nothing, in the sun, reminds me of Charles Aznavour’s song « Emmenez-moi, » in which he sings:

« Take me to the end of the earth, take me to the land of wonders. It seems to me that misery would be less painful in the sun. »

This passage expresses that dream, common among northern peoples, of escaping our daily « misery » for a more pleasant life under the sun, where the idea of « doing nothing » blends with that of relaxation and simple happiness, contrasting with the difficulties we know. It’s a beautiful way to talk about the desire to escape and find respite in a paradise-like place.

As with all good things, I now find myself, at the beginning of September, like the grasshoppers who has stored nothing for the long winter months ahead. I’m starting to feel the urgency to return to a more productive life. And it just so happens that I’ve been offered, on a silver platter, a contract that starts very soon. And the ant in me said yes.

I’m actually happy to go back to work. The vacation period is officially over, the kids are back in school, and there are fewer grasshoppers around me partying. So, I’m returning to work, with no regrets, my head filled with beautiful summer memories. But nothing says the grasshopper won’t take over again when the days start getting longer in 2025.