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05/19/2004 Entry: "they're back"

I don't have any clear memories of the last cicada emergence but there are a few mental pictures from my high school days when they surfaced in the 70s. I've seen a couple popping up here and there over the past week but this morning looks like the biggest gathering of them so far. On a tree in front of the library the lower part of the trunk was covered with nymphs looking for a place to attach securely while the adult emerged from the paper thin brown shell. Some early risers were already out of their shells, pumping fluids from their swollen abdomen into the veins of their wings. The stubby flippers grew into inch long transparent membranes, divided by the black lines of the circulatory system. They glittered in the morning sunlight, like nature's stained glass.

I'll have to charge up the digital and get a few photos of the red-eyed monsters. It's only once every 17 years, and while they do make a mess, it is also a fascinating scene to observe.