Monday, May 17, 2004

Get Ready for Cicadas



I've been eager to post about this for over two months now, since I realized that the 17-year cicadas (aka Brood X) were coming this spring. Apparently, we could start hearing and seeing them any day now.

A few weeks ago, I was reminded of this in Parade magazine(The Invasion Is About To Begin). In the Midwest area of the United States, the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati has a website dedicated to this year's emergence (Welcome to Cicada Watch 2004!).

Mom told me that in 1970, shortly after I was born, she'd have to put a blanket over my stroller to keep them from getting on me. In 1987, I was a junior in high school, and I recall taking some pictures of dead cicadas in our backyard. I remember that our dogs liked them, too. WEBN, one of the local radio stations, spoofed a local pizza chain's commercial. The pizza chain was Snappy Tomato Pizza, but in the spoof, the pizza chain was called Snappy Cicada Pizza.

I've linked to the Cicada Mania website, which is probably the most comprehensive site available to describe what all the hubub is about.

The site reports that as of Saturday, 5/15/2004, the cicadas were spotted in Illinois, Michigan, and Delaware.

There are apparently some cicada recipes, and even a wedding planner.

Check out the brood map for Brood X at the Great Lakes Cicada web site.

I'll be sure to report back soon.

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