Cicada

The cicada are out in force (and in the forest) in upper East Tennessee. I’ve not heard any in Johnson City proper but just down the road from my house one population was in full throat. I meandered around Pilot Hill the other morning and they were singing in full throat across the road in the Philadelphia Community cemetery. I heard several more broods along the drive back to town. The last time would have 2004 (?) and I think I paid attention then when I was visiting the Amish Country store down on Rt. 107 with my friend Butch Farr. Before that would have 1987 and I still new to the territory and probably not yet attuned to such things. I can’t imagine trying to encapsulate my life in 17-year leaps. I can well imagine anyone who has this phenomenon in their backyard might get a little tired of it. One survey indicated there were 1.5-million cicada per acre. Don’t know if it was an acre of trees or just a mixture of grass and trees. I own one-half acre but half of that is the house. A potential 375,000 of these critters in my backyard? I’d be staying in a hotel by now. ###