I told you recently about these noisy insects - and today I can
actually share a photo I managed to take of a '17 year cicada' hanging
out on the back deck. If you touch one of these guys - about 2" long - their
shriek is quite startling!
Along with donning face masks, some North Carolinians may also be wearing
ear plugs!
After nearly two decades underground, a wave of periodical cicadas
emerged this summer and they are a noisy bunch!
Last spotted in 2003, hoards of 17-year cicadas, referred to as Brood IX,
have arisen from the soil and they are deafening. When one whizzes by your
ear you are startled at the noise it makes.
Then, when several thousand start 'singing' together in the trees
in the early evening, you really could use ear plugs!
With evenings now starting to cool a little, at the weekend we enjoyed
grilling outside, then eating supper in the gazebo. . . . . .serenaded by
these creatures!
Sunday, before the heat set in, time was well spent doing a lot of front garden late summer chores. These consisted mostly of working with pots of annuals,
herbs etc. all of which had seen better days. I've kept a couple of pots of basil
going for a bit longer - just have to have fresh basil outside the door while the
good tomatoes are still coming!
At Home Depot I picked up a couple of pots of asters for some much needed
color outside the front door - chrysanthemums will be added a little later,
still too hot for them.
Bees and butterflies found the asters immediately.
Noticed today Blogger is playing with us yet again regarding font and photo sizing - have you noticed?
Getting the type sized to match in each row of a paragraph is often a pain.
I must say though I do like being able to do a final resize of photos by
dragging the corners. Do you like this new feature? I wonder if it will
remain. I hope so.
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