I laughed out loud when I read this story about the cicadas re-emergence from a 17-year hibernation. They last came out in 1987, a year I totally remember because it was my high school senior year and the cicadas were INESCAPABLE in my area of Northern Virginia. You couldn’t sleep at night they were so loud.
And this year, 2004, they wake up and come out to play once again. This time, I’m in New Jersey, but this time I still get to enjoy them because this strain of cicadas stretches from Tennessee to New York.
Oh joy.
But I have a funny story to tell, from the 1987 brood. My Uncle Jack was driving down the road, windows down. He was enjoying the fine spring weather as well as his sparkling new (and expensive) prescription sunglasses that he had just picked up from the eye doctor. He’s driving along, having a good time, when a cicada flies in the window and lodges itself in between my uncle’s sunglasses and his eye. In a panic, my uncle rips off his sunglasses and throws them out the window to get rid of the cicada.
I was laughing even as I typed that.
This Spring, make sure you drive with your car windows and sunroofs CLOSED if you live anywhere in between Tennessee and New York. Especially if you wear sunglasses while driving.
We used to hear the cicadas in Queens every year when we lived there. I don’t know about this every 17 years stuff. But I hope your uncle stays in doors this year.
Keith and I just had this discussion when he expressed his doubt about this year’s “plague”. Yes, there are small bands of cicadas that come out every year or every few years that are localized. This 17-year band (or “brood” according to the article) is MASSIVE and much more prevelant than the local versions. This year’s brood stretches from Tennessee to New York. That’s big. And I just remember when I was in high school that the tree in front of our house where I parked my car would practically vibrate as it SUNG each morning there were so many cicadas in that tree.
Yuck.
Step 1.
http://www.dancentury.com/cicada/
Step 2.
Check the chart.
Step 3.
Hit Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline…
Step 4.
Summer in Canada this year. Don’t forget your hat.
I remember the cicadas too – the holes in the ground from whence they came. Just a little bit oogey.
I do not remember that story about Uncle Jack, but I laughed out loud at the mental picture.
I was in 8th grade when they came out. Honestly, I don’t remember ever seeing them. Talk about living in my own fantasy world. Maybe they were around but, I blocked them out?
That story about your uncle is hilarious! *LOL*