The Voice of the Cicada is Heard through the Land

It's cicada mania time! We are big fans of the little guys. I've got little holes all through my yard where they've tunneled up, and then they shed their skins and head for the tops of trees. At mid-day on warm days, there is a hum in the background - not actually loud enough to compete with a conversation, but clearly there. Bixby, the fraidy-dog, had to cautiously explore. But now, he's enjoying playing with them on the ground. So far, I haven't noticed him eating them.

Seventeen years ago, we celebrated big time. My sister got tshirts for the kids. We had a barbecue at my house and everybody tried a grilled cicada. My sister had in her head that she wanted to grab and grill some at an upcoming office picnic, and she thought she needed to rehearse, to see if it would actually work. So we all tried them. Charred, with hot sauce and salt, with a big beer chaser, I got one mostly down, but it wasn't an experience I am likely to repeat.

Never in a million years could we have pictured, in 2004, what we would be in 2021. We have such a big hole where my sister should be, and yet we are so blessed. And never could we have forecast how the kids turned out. Take a look at those three, and pick the most likely to be working for the Defense Department, for example!

So I had to do Tshirts, of course, and we had a smaller family celebration.

Where will we be in 2038? Will the cicadas adapt to the new, warmer and more volatile world we'll be living in?