Cicada (Brood XIII) Update

Oh, boy are they here! This morning, the trunks of mature trees were pretty much covered with newly-emerged nymphs, and the lawns are crawling with more trying to reach tree trunks. They have not begun singing though; that will be any day now, even as more emerge.

Birds are going nuts with all the extra food. I witnessed a few bird "fights" today, but those will stop once they all realize just how much food there is. Most wild birds don't live long enough to witness this event more than once, so I can only imagine how excited they must be! Can you imagine when you normally have to go to some trouble to feed yourself and your young how you'd feel if food was literally crawling out of the ground faster than you could eat it? They are still singing non-stop (when not eating), and I've seen many frantically preparing new nests for their second set of offspring.

A lot of my perennials have cicadas on them, but that's cool; they won't hurt those plants a bit (although if I recall, there are other bugs attracted by the cicadas that will do some damage).

It's a warm day, and I'm starting to see the cicadas "flying." They don't really fly so much as move around a bit hoping to run into a mate or tree.

If you want to learn more, head to www.cicadamania.com. I'll get some more decent pictures once we're fully loaded up with bugs. Whereas the last time they were here, I was bothered by their presence; this time, I am amazed by what they are and how much of a good thing this is for the wildlife, and for my trees and garden. Once eggs are laid in trees' twigs, they will fall off, offering a free pruning service. The soil becomes enriched by the nutrients of the dead adults, the birds hopefully multiply to extreme, and maybe the damn rabbits will stop eating my plants!

In other triathlon news, I was completely shelled yesterday, and I wasn't too surprised. I had a scratchy throat that worried me, but it's gone today after I OD'ed on vitamins and carbs. I am still finding it difficult to sleep; I'm just so excited to start my day this time of year (and I still have many more perennial seedlings to yank), and I'm almost finished with a secret project that will be revealed this weekend (hint: it involves Cindy and there is an extreme amount of *PINKNESS* involved).

Stay tuned...more excitement coming from Mind of Iron, as I head into non-stop gonzo training and racing, bugs and flowers, whoring around with various buds and general enjoyment of life! I got the nicest compliment from a woman at the Y yesterday, although I took it mostly as an affirmation of my life--she knows that I am competitive at triathlon, and we got to talking gardening, and I'm generally pretty exuberant about a lot of things. She said to me that I "have the nicest life, with my competitions, gardening and positive attitude." At that very moment, I felt extremely grateful and blessed, and all I could do was smile back at her and said, "Thanks, and I feel that way myself!"