Although the exoskeleton which are left behind are very visible on trees, mailboxes, iris leaves and under the trees, there are many signs that we have a significant cicada presence.
First, they crawl out of the ground---tell-tale holes are evident under all of my trees.
Then, they crawl up the trees, to shed their outer casing.
They are very light color as they emerge from these shells. When they darken and dry out, they fly away or drop to the ground. We have so many at various stages: below you can see one almost done shedding and another still enclosed within the exoskeleton.
Cicadas are one of the sounds of summer. I remember sleeping on our porch in the summers and listening to their hypnotic, rhythmic, sound as I drifted off to sleep. Click here to hear their sound and see them shedding their exoskeleton. Their singing is a mating call. After mating they lay eggs in the tree bark. When the eggs hatch, they drop to the ground where they feed and mature for 13 years. The only time this process was inconvenient was the year Leah graduated from high school. . . 13 years ago. That year, we had the 7 year AND the 13 year cicadas with nasty flying bugs everywhere.
Meanwhile, they are everywhere---weighing down my irises, body parts getting tracked into the house because they cover the ground and sidewalks. I have seen a few recipes (there is quite a bit of "meat" on them), but this site is great---very multi-cultural. Click here. See below for the front yard action May 31, 2011.
Most of my life, I've considered it fortunate that I was just ahead of the Baby-boom. Generally, the Baby-boomers were born between 1946 and 1964 after the fathers returned from World War II. It was a huge population explosion that has reverberated through American society.
This blog will be part history, part memories, part reflections of a retired teacher, but active "Senior". I have always felt like I straddled two generations forming a bridge. Sometimes I think like a baby-boomer, but sometimes I'm locked into my parents' Depression era thinking. I'm a dichotomy of two eras. But, I'm always ready to try something new---so here I am dipping my toes in the water of Blogworld.
1 comment:
OHHHHHHHHH MY. :P blech. so sick. we do not have them here in KC. maybe you need to come visit. :)
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