| cicadas 2004 (page 2) |
| The weekend of the 15th was incredible. The cicadas in our yard finally came out en masse. You could hear them rustling the dead leaves in the garden. Crawling all over each other trying to get to a vertical structure (your leg, if you stayed in one place for more than a half minute). An average of 20 nymphs on our porch at any time in the evening. Many hundreds in the garden. They'd crawl out of their holes, wander to a tree or bush or wall, climb until they felt it was time, and bust out the back of their shells. They'd hang out for a while, pumping the blood into their wings and drying out, then crawl off. Wouldn't try flying for days. |
| The emergence on our block was over by around the 19th. Yards and gardens were riddled with holes. Sidewalks were littered and stinky with rotted "near misses". The gutters in many places were brown with shells that had blown off trees. And the songs began... |
| The rare blue-eyed cicada! Very neat looking, particularly after millions of almost identical-looking ones. My daughter bawled when she had to let this female go. She understood that she wouldn't see another for 17 years. |
| This is what they're here for. Almost impossible to pull them apart. They'll sit like this for hours-- astonishing given how long they've waited. To the left, a pair on a discarded mattress. You can almost hear the Barry White music swelling. |
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