They Are Not A Myth

First let me say welcome back to myself. I'm sure both of my loyal readers are wondering where the hell I've been for the last week and a half. I'll make the excuse portion of this quick. Last week I worked the overnight shift at WGN. While I was home every morning by six, I had to get "Daughter" ready for school and get things going around the house, then it was off to bed. I've found that adjusting to a different schedule takes all my strength, so posting fell to the wayside. "Daughter's" last day of school was Monday, so the last day and a half have been spent adjusting to another new schedule. Do I seem a bit rigid? Maybe I'm just happy to see you.

The entire state of Illinois has been in a tizzy lately because this is the year that the cicadas were supposed to re-emerge after a seventeen year absence. The news media, and various un-named radio talk show hosts have made quite a bit of hay anticipating the arrival of these red eyed monsters, and their month long serenading of the area. In actuality, the event has proved to be much like a blind date arranged over the Internet. A lot of build up and false promises, then a huge let down when you finally see the hideous beast, if they show up at all. My neighborhood has been devoid of cicadas. This has been a minor disappointment to me and a major disappointment to "Daughter" who had seen and heard so much about them that she expected the flying banshees to blot out the sun.

If you don't know, cicadas come around once every seventeen years. I'm no scientist, or bug expert, but here's the deal. The female climbs up trees and drops her eggs. The eggs somehow burrow into the ground where they wait patiently for seventeen years. At the appointed time, these eggs turn into slimy white bug worms (I think that's technically correct) Then the bug worms shed their outer shell and become flying, red eyed song meisters whose high decibel roar makes fluorescent bulbs sound delightful.

Enough of the National Geographic special. Being a good dad, I asked "Daughter" if she wanted to hunt down the wily cicada and perhaps trap some for good measure. After an enthusiastic "I guess so", we were off to a forest preserve in an older area where I thought we might find some of the elusive bugs. I knew we were closing in by the obnoxious din they created and by the flocks of sea gulls who have come inland to feast on the tasty beasties. To my amazement, "Daughter was impressed by the vision of nature that played out before her. She was curious about all aspects of the cicada and prepared to hunt a few down. I'm happy to report that five of the winged intruders are now safely ensconced in the well ventilated "critter catcher" jar that sits on my desk. "Daughter" put some grass and sticks in for the cicadas amusement and was even brave enough to catch a couple of them with her bare hands. I'm not sure what the future holds for the prisoners, I mean subjects of observation, but since "Daughter" is fairly kind hearted, i assume an early release is imminent. I'm glad she found our little nature walk interesting, because to be honest, I thought it was pretty cool. They do exist. Later...Brian