I just have to laugh. Really. After much debate over what was the "right" thing to do while G is gone, I came to the conclusion that spending a few months with my parents would be the best for both me and L.
I have plans to get L a few toys for the postage stamp sized backyard so that he can still play outside. After carefully weighing all of his toys based on size/appeal so that I can figure out the best to have with us I will be packing up the winners this weekend.
National Geographic just helped me make a few decisions, though, with this story. Apparently, L and I will be spending a lot of time inside this summer.
The emergence of the 17 year cicadas is fascinating to me on a few levels. First and foremost is the fact that I am supposed to be OLD when they come out. Seriously. I was 11 years old and we had just moved to Northern Virginia when they were last sighted and I remember thinking that in 17 years when they returned I would be a ripe old age of 28. I knew that I would practically be in a nursing home. Come on...at 28 isn't life mostly over?
Second, I remember the sheer icky factor of the cicadas. I am definitely not a "bug" person. I don't like things crawling on me and I definitely don't like masses of hard roach-like insects flying into me at the rate of 20 to 30 in a few minutes. ICK ICK ICK! I wonder if I will be able to handle this in a more mature manner or if I will revert to my 11 year old inner self and run screaming for the house.
Third, I remember the crunch of those bugs under my feet. I honestly think I ran everywhere that spring in an effort to crunch on as few as possible. Every surface (in my head) was literally covered in them. It will be interesting to see if I have exaggerated that. I honestly could go my whole life without ever checking the validity of my memory, though.
I wonder if it will be as crazy this time as the last time I remember. Radio shows hosted "cicada eating contests" and "chocolate covered cicadas" was a curious delicacy that I succeeded in avoiding.
Most of all, though, I wonder what my son will think of the phenomenon. I have a feeling he won't remember this experience and I know that he will be nowhere close to "old" when the cicadas emerge again in 17 years. In a way, I can't wait to see what he sees in this intersting event.
I have plans to get L a few toys for the postage stamp sized backyard so that he can still play outside. After carefully weighing all of his toys based on size/appeal so that I can figure out the best to have with us I will be packing up the winners this weekend.
National Geographic just helped me make a few decisions, though, with this story. Apparently, L and I will be spending a lot of time inside this summer.
The emergence of the 17 year cicadas is fascinating to me on a few levels. First and foremost is the fact that I am supposed to be OLD when they come out. Seriously. I was 11 years old and we had just moved to Northern Virginia when they were last sighted and I remember thinking that in 17 years when they returned I would be a ripe old age of 28. I knew that I would practically be in a nursing home. Come on...at 28 isn't life mostly over?
Second, I remember the sheer icky factor of the cicadas. I am definitely not a "bug" person. I don't like things crawling on me and I definitely don't like masses of hard roach-like insects flying into me at the rate of 20 to 30 in a few minutes. ICK ICK ICK! I wonder if I will be able to handle this in a more mature manner or if I will revert to my 11 year old inner self and run screaming for the house.
Third, I remember the crunch of those bugs under my feet. I honestly think I ran everywhere that spring in an effort to crunch on as few as possible. Every surface (in my head) was literally covered in them. It will be interesting to see if I have exaggerated that. I honestly could go my whole life without ever checking the validity of my memory, though.
I wonder if it will be as crazy this time as the last time I remember. Radio shows hosted "cicada eating contests" and "chocolate covered cicadas" was a curious delicacy that I succeeded in avoiding.
Most of all, though, I wonder what my son will think of the phenomenon. I have a feeling he won't remember this experience and I know that he will be nowhere close to "old" when the cicadas emerge again in 17 years. In a way, I can't wait to see what he sees in this intersting event.
posted by Mandy at
11:27 PM
1 Comments:
Heh, just tonight David told me when he was a kid in VA (I guess this would be closer to 34 years ago if this was the same brood) he and his friends would collect the spent cicada shells (don't know if there's a more accurate term) and whoever found the most would be the "winner" that day. Charming, no?
Lexa
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Anonymous, at 2:17 AM
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