Thursday, May 06, 2021

Cicadas Are Coming

2004 was a big year for me. I got married, we bought our first home, and I got hired for a new job (which I actually started in 2005). That seems like a lifetime ago, and it really was. It was before kids and even before I started this blog. And that's enough of being deep or going down memory lane. I mean, you already read the title. You know that this is about insects that come out of the ground every 17 years. Or maybe you don't. 

The Washington Post put together a guide about everything you need to know about the Brood X cicadas. Billions of cicadas are about to emerge from underground, and then they'll be here for several weeks eating and trying to mate. That actually sounds like a pretty good time! Brood X cicadas are only located in specific parts of the United States with the DC area being the center. So when I wrote "or maybe you don't" above, what I meant is that maybe you don't know anything about these cicadas. Prior to their emergence in 2004, they last came out in 1987. I was a kid in Pittsburgh then, and there were no cicadas in Western Pennsylvania. Since I wasn't alive for Brood X in 1970, I first learned about these cicadas in 2004. 


In the spring of 2004, I lived in an apartment complex with concrete everywhere with the streets and parking lots. I drove to my job in another area with an enormous parking lot and spent most of my time indoors. While I certainly saw cicadas and definitely heard them, I don't remember them being a big part of my life. Actually, what I remember most about them was driving either to or from Pittsburgh for a weekend of wedding planning and getting stuck in traffic on I-70 in Maryland. The cicadas were really, really loud as we moved very slowly on the interstate.

This year is going to be different. The neighborhood where I live now has a lot of trees and grass. I already shared some of my walks on my golf course. Cicadas are going to be everywhere. I'm honestly fascinated by them. It truly is a mystery of science that these cicadas emerge like clockwork every 17 years. You really only have the opportunity to see and hear them a few times in your lifetime. My kids are going to be adults when the cicadas return in 2038. Just remind me that I wrote this when I see and hear the cicadas everywhere and get annoyed by them in the next week or two!

2 comments:

Amy said...

I remember the 1987 ones! Summer before and beginning of 6th grade for me. Just as you'd anticipate, boys would grab them and try to put them on girls on the playground. Ewwww...bugs are one of my worst fears and it was like a full scale hurricane of bugs.

Sean said...

Note to self. Make sure to tell my kids not to put cicadas on their classmates. (This shouldn't be a problem since my oldest is a bit freaked out by cicadas and they aren't even here yet!)