Brood X -- They're Here!

It is the 26th of May, and we are really in the thick of things with life running at full speed. Whether I want it to or not. I'm working some extra hours and days to cover for a couple of co-workers who are out of the office. 

With today as my only day off this week, I'm using it to catch up on a few things, inside and outside. 

~George!!!~

We are also in the "thick" of the cicadas, known as "Brood X." Most of the species we have are annual cicadas, which emerge every year and take only one year to complete their life cycle. But these are different. As I mentioned in a previous post, this particular "brood" has been living underground for 17 years. 

All in preparation that has been leading up to this moment when they have surfaced in droves -- up to 1.4 million cicadas per acre -- to climb whatever they can (mostly trees)

~The cicadas are making a pilgrimage up our old Maple tree~

to molt into their adult form, leaving the past behind them...

to sing their deafening love song in a loud chorus...

                           **A video below that I made today, or here's the link ....

and produce the next generation before dying in just a few short weeks from now.

I really find the whole cicada thing so fascinating, and I've taken a lot of photos. Maybe it's because it's taking place all around us, and because there are so many, we can't ignore them. 

And since their parents lived here before we did, and the ones that we are seeing did too, we are doing our best to not mow them, weed-whack them or step on them. Or let the dogs eat them, which is what some dogs in the area have been doing. Ours thankfully are not. 

Cicadas don’t bite or sting, or eat anything and so for the next several weeks, our yard, is their yard too!

I think there's enough room for all of us.