reesesWeb

Holy diamonds.

I had read the same Brood X news articles as everyone else, the ones that claim that the synchronised emergence of 6, 10, and 17 year cicadas would create an incredible cacophony, the likes of which the earth has never seen.

And I scoffed.

I live in a relatively newly-constructed area of Bethesda. The building I live in is less than a year old. The buildings around me are no more than 10-15 years old, I'm guessing. No tree that I have seen within six blocks is wider around than a child's arm. As a result, the only cicadas surfacing nearby are the smaller six year creatures, and of those there are not many.

My parents visited this weekend, and today, we drove to Monticello. On the way back, as soon as we crossed the MD border on 495, I heard what sounded like buzzing outside the car. I thought Kat's car was having trouble, but it quickly occurred to me that it sounded exactly like cicadas. That's silly, though, because I would have had to be hearing cicadas from about a quarter mile away, as those were the nearest trees. Big trees, though. Lots and lots of big trees. But, that sound would have to travel that quarter mile over busy traffic, through the closed car window, and over the a/c and road noise.

Which is exactly what it was doing. Once off the freeway, and in an older area of Bethesda, I rolled down the window. By "rolled", I mean I pushed the little button that causes the window to retract into the door, but I love anachronistic terms, such as putting the phone on the hook, dialing the phone, or wearing pants.

I wished, I dearly wished, I had the ability to record that sound. Because I could put a link to it on this page, you would click on this link, and your neighbors would bang on the walls to get you to stop making that infernal racket.

I will hereby cease mocking those people who claim the cicadas wake them up at night, they are so loud.

Because, really, they are that loud.

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