the cicadas!

i can't believe i'm missing the 17-year cycle cicada season!

i remember these little buzzing creatures so well from when i was little, which must have been about 6 from doing the maths. i used to try to catch them as pets and keep them in a plastic orange pumpkin bucket that we used for trick-r-treatin. i thought i was creating such a great home for my new pets, putting leaves and grass in the buckets to recreate their natural environment. although, i'm not sure what i fed them, perhaps i thought they liked snickers bars too?

anyway, after they all died, i remember really looking forward to their next appareance...but 17 years felt like such a long time to wait back then...and now its here. i was actually shocked when my mom told me that the cicadas were back this year, because my memories of them are vivid and seem fresher than 17 years ago. oh man, i'm getting old, a definite 17 years has just passed since this memory.

and now i'm missing their return! so because i won't make it back to chicago before they all die, i've recruited several cicada scouts to keep records for me. gen has her cicada watch 1.0+, which i'm avidly looking forward to watching/viewing, and even my whole family has been trapping and photographing these creatures that have taken over our backyard.

here's some of the material i've recieved so far: