source
Did I mention that I had one of my all too frequent headaches? I really was in no shape to be running all around creation. Truth be told, I spent much of my day in the car, air conditioner running, wasting gas. But for as long as I could stand it (as the weather was stifling hot) I layed down with the windows open, looking at the power lines and listening to the cicadas sing to each other.
source
I've mentioned that I have a love for cicadas. I love their high pitched buzz that permeates the air from July through September. That sound that makes me think of children jumping into swimming pools, people sitting on rockers on the porch, fanning themselves with whatever they can get their hands on, and that gives me permission to feel lazy from the heat.
source
I love finding cicada shells on the trees, although I rarely find them. Here in Ohio, we have annual cicadas and 7 year cicadas. When that 7th year hits, it is Amazing the number of cicadas that emerge! You walk outside to find maybe a hundred on your car, and in wooded areas you can't walk without them hitting you mid flight. Cicada song gets Loud those years!
source
I spent my time thinking about this insect that emerges from the ground every 7 years, just to mate, lay eggs, and die. What purpose could they have? I saw something on television that if you look at a tree ring, you can see that the trees received more nutrition during that 7th year as the dead cicadas and nymph shells fall to the forest floor and provide nutrients to the soil. And omnivores and carnivores, such as civets and waxwings may get the most calories and nutrition of their entire lives in year 7. Oh, and they let us know that summer truly is upon us with that sound. So a creature that seemingly has a meager life actually has a great impact on the world around it. Yet another example of the amazing web of life that God has created on this earth.
source
Yes, I am fascinated with the cicada.
20 comments:
When we hear the cicadas it reminds us school is around the bend. We are in northern OH and find quite a few shells - they seem to like our corkscrew willow trees....
I've always found cidadas fascinating as well, and now that I've been to the south of France...I think they're even more interesting!! Did you know that the cicada "la cigale" is a sign of a welcome home in Provence? Everywhere I went, they had ceramic cigales to hang on your front door, cigale soaps, cigale salt and pepper shakers...I came home with a trivet with some olives and a cigale painted on it! :) It was sooo neat. You would probably love it! :)
Ohhh the memories of my childhood here in the South...thank you. I love their song too....I think of the lake and watermelon!!
Hugs,
Regi
Hope that headache is better!!
I must admit - I have never known of anyone who can praise the 7 year influx of cicadas - until you. I was about 12 years old the first time I was ever exposed to them and I made sure that I never had to be near them again. Ewww gross. Cicadas crunching under bike tires - nope - I don't need to do that again. Baby brother pulling their eyeballs off - Nah - I can live without that one again.
But, every one of God's creatures deserves at least one fan outside their own species. Thanks for taking that assignment!
I"m in New Zealand where our cicada's are if they have any sense hibernating. I'm really looking forward to hearing them again in Summer and it may well be time for a 7 year cicada eruption this year as it's been a few years since the last one. We usually have a couple on our silk tree in the back yard and the boys and I have fun trying to spot them.
hmm. interesting! God is so amazing. I'm glad you're flea free. I just hope you're feeling better.
blessings.
Fabulous post- and I also love the song of cicadas. It's one of the sounds I really miss in winter, along with crickets and frogs. Thank you, Lord, for summer!
I miss that sound living out here on the West Coast.
I love the sound of them too. It reminds me of being young and playing in the street with friends and knowing when we heard their sounds it was time to come in.
Please stop by my blog when you have a chance I have an award for you!
I don't hear them much here in Iowa, but I do remember hearing cicadas in Tennessee.
It is amazing how God causes all things to work together. Thanks for the insight!
I can hear them right now (and my windows are closed)!
Although, I have to admit, I prefer hearing them to seeing them.
Love the last photo a lot!
I absolutely love the sound of the cicadas. They fill the air here in Georgia during these July nights. Soon they will be gone. Their silence will be very obvious. A great post.And the photos are wonderful.
i had one fly and land on me last year as we were walking around the cottage trails.....and of course, took total close-ups of him....
he loved my bath robe.....
and this year so far, we have only heard them...no sign of them yet anywhere...
I, too, love the sound of cicadas. It takes me back to my childhood, when life was so simple and the only thing on the agenda was play time. Thanks for bringing it all back.
One of my favorite sounds of summer. That and the locusts (are they they same?) singing in the trees in the evening.
In these days I heard cicadas singing as it was very hot. They made me think of Provence...they are the symbol of Provence!!
xoxo Zaira
I love the sound of the cicadas. It always reminds me of living in Japan.
Oh hahaha! I love them too... when I don't have to sleep through them! My kitty brought a cicada in the apartment two nights ago and she and I spent several looonnng minutes wrestling over the (kinda scary) bug!
headaches are the worst...hard to deal with. I get them every couple days for days at a time...horrible...fleas I'm free from but the mosquitoes are killing me here in FL. feel better(:
Great cicada photos...I used to hear them so loud when i was in Champaign Illinois
Post a Comment