Cicadas!

I was recently in Chicago, and found it was the time of the cicadas. For those uninitiated to this phenomenon, these are insects that emerge periodically to breed, where "periodical" means anywhere from a 7-year to a 13-year to a 17-year cycle. They come out from underground (where they've been growing for the rest of the cycle), molt, spread their wings, and join a chorus of millions of other cicadas. Their singing is heard -- loudly -- all day, like a powerful electric buzz to the air. Flocks of cicadas swirl around and collect on trees, cars, your body, etc. When they've done their reproductive work, they die and collect in crunchy piles around the area. Because there are various broods of cicadas in various areas of the US, some town experience cicadas nearly every year, while others have them only now and then.

This website has quite a lot of information, including maps, full-color photos, and... recipes.

It was neat to see them doing their own thing, essentially oblivious to human civilization around them. A valuable reminder that nature is not all about us. I suspect they don't even notice the changes in landscape-- not to mention politics, world affairs, or technology-- over the 17 years since they were last above ground.

I saw one amusing thing when I was about to leave Chicago. Sitting in the plane before departing, I observed one of the air traffic directors out on the tarmac -- you know, the people who wave the orange sticks to direct the planes as they taxi to and from the runway. She was surrounded by a cloud of cicadas, and apparently felt uncomfortable with their presence because she was occasionally swatting at them to shoo them away. But she was dong so with her orange sticks in hand! I wondered if the planes would end up being directed in strange ways.