Thursday 23 July 09 Locusts singing outside my window

The sound of locusts singing during the summertime is probably one of my most favorite of all summer sounds.

I remember hearing locusts during summers when I was just a very little girl--I wasn't sure what the sound came from, and I never saw a locust until just a few years ago. What I saw was the shell of a greenish black bug--very different from the Cicadas that I'd seen from time to time during my life.

I've seen Cicadas as a child--I remember going to a wooded area not too far from home, and listening to the non-stop drone of thousands of Cicadas on the trees, flying through the air, flying into me, catching them, and more. They disappeared after a few weeks--and didn't return until nearly two decades later--depending on where I was--because I've seen them at least four times, in different places.

Where I live now, I've seen the coming and going of the Cicada twice--the last time being just a few years ago, and earlier, after we'd been here for just a couple of years.

The Cicadas were everywhere--they flew into our faces, into windshields, into doors, everywhere! And the drone of the Cicada was so loud that one could only hear someone else, when outside, if you shouted.

And then they were gone.

Now, we have the summer locusts, to keep us mindful of the summertime passing by.....

Lila