They’ve been lying dormant for 17 years, but this summer is supposed to be one of the largest invasions of the cicada – an insect described best as the demonspawn of a cricket, a butterfly, and a cockroach. According to scientists (I love prefacing my remarks that way, especially without citing the source) billions of these little critters are waiting underground for the opportunity to spit themselves out into the air and fly around causing havoc and mating like….well, like something that hasn’t had sex in 17 years. While occasional eruptions of cicadas happen in off-years from different groups of the 13 or 17 year buggers, “Brood X” is the largest and most widespread, and will soon spill upon the earth on a biblical scale. Get those porches screened-in today!
Oh, and don’t forget to buy some commemorative cicada gear. How else will you remember the Great Swarm of ’04?