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August 21, 2006
cicadas are our friends
Well, not exactly, but we do like finding their shells.
The last couple years, probably since Willik was about 3, we've been known to take a walk around the blocks near my parents' house in Mineola, and look for shells left behind by cicadas.
Now that Phoenix is also 3, he seems to have a interest in it as well; He has no fears or qualms about picking up any bugs--in typical boy fashion. The other day he found a fat slug in his car seat--another blog entry.
Anyway, yesterday, we went on one of those walks, searching for cicada shells. I had a small container to hold all the ones we found, so we could check them out more closely when we got back to the house. We collected 11 shells, though we saw probably another 6 or 7 which Fabio couldn't reach as they were too high. We also found a dead one, with it's wings still on. We managed to spot 2 others that were climbing up the tree, still in it's beginning stages, before it's wings are out. Fabio even touched a live one, though it flew away before he could actually get a hold of it.
We made a few discoveries while at it...
1. They seem to like trees that have lots of leaves, especially weeping willows.
2. They are loud, and good at hiding.
3. They aren't very fast walkers, but seem to be quite good at flying.
4. They have high and simple goals in life-- climb high, look and sing for a mate, mate in song and lay eggs for the next generation.
After all that, Fabio and I were particularly impressed with their "climbing high" goal, which I think most people lack. I think most of the time, people don't aim high enough, and are too easily side-tracked by the difficulties, and the "what-ifs", including myself.
Also, I was more curious about cicadas, and what they are all about, so I went and read more at Cicada mania. It's pretty fascinating stuff, and I hope others will take the time to take a look at more of the nature that God has put around us, even if you live in the city. Just keep your eyes open, and you just might learn of some other way in which God's infinite creativity will astound you.
When we got home, all of us washed our hands real good. You never know what little maggots might lie inside of a cicada shell. :)
Posted by glassgirl at August 21, 2006 03:33 PM
Responses
It was a fun night, wasn't it? I was at work today with the loud airplanes and I was hearing cicadas in the parking lot where there are a couple of trees. It was comforting to think that the same God who created all these creatures to live their simple lives is the same God who created us. We're the ones who complicate our lives with our strange goals in life.
Posted by: Fabio at August 22, 2006 08:56 PM
Bugs? Ewww gross!
Missed you guys last night...
there was some yummy stuff, and lots of it!
(as I always like to do...)
Posted by: Stacey at August 23, 2006 05:53 PM
Those things were so gross!!! I kept almost stepping on them (because they were on this little bag), every time I went from the living room to my room. Thank God you got them out of here...
Posted by: Raquel at August 24, 2006 11:18 AM