Anyone who has recently taken a stroll during sundown has likely heard a chorus of Cicadas coming from mature trees.
While I never put a lot of thought into these creepy looking creatures, my wife and son have become infatuated with the clumsy flappers.
So, I recently asked my wife, Shannon, to write about her “Cicada Summer.”
This is what she shared.
“Every summer is a Cicada Summer but this year seems to be the epitome of one.
There was talk of “Brood X” on social media posts of swarms of these periodical leafhoppers emerging en masse.
Here at home, there seem to be more than the usual number everywhere.
Cicadas have been around since the age of the dinosaurs, a fitting fact for my dinosaur obsessed six-year-old, who is also obsessed with bugs.
I was always fascinated by the Cicada exoskeletons left around when I was a kid and it has been wonderful to watch his fascination with them.
When we go on walks, he takes along a vessel to collect the shells and bodies we find along the way. Our front porch looks like a slightly macabre museum dedicated to this staple of summer.
You can even crystallize them, which is an experiment we have going on the back porch. An exoskeleton soaking in saltwater has already grown beautiful white crystals.
On a trip to the Memphis Zoo in July, one climbed onto my hand and we took turns trading it back and forth. My son named it “Spirit.”
I read that some people don’t like the sound of the cicadas “singing” but I love it and it’s the sound of summer and childhood to me.”
