They're heeere

So the talk of the Chicagoland area is the cicadas. These harmless, but ugly and annoying bugs emerge every 17 years and are everywhere. That's an adult on Andrew's hand. He loves them. They crawl out of the ground, where they have been for 17 years, climb up on a tree, and then break out of their shells, leaving them on the tree or ground. Their wings dry and in a few days they start the mating process, which is LOUD. Its only just begun, I'm told that 17 years ago it was deafening. You can watch a cool little movie about them here.



And if you'll turn your attention to the picture on the right, I'd like to welcome you to our seaside town. Or so you'd think. That roof is covered with seagulls, and its only a small sampling of the number of them in our neighborhood. They are worse than the bugs, for sure. Apparently cicadas are a delicacy for the gulls (and for people, in some parts of the world) and they have invaded. There is gull crap EVERYWHERE. Gross.



As I said, Andrew loves the cicadas, and I'm doing my best not to show my disgust to ruin it. He's been collecting them, and their shells. I suspect he won't like the noise when they really get to buzzing.