I wonder why most of us find the sound of crickets soothing? I’m one of those people but I also have to admit my house is filled with them (I have no proper door thresholds as my house is still under construction almost seven years after a house fire) and the noise is screaming. 99% of the time I just absorb it as part of the universe working, but when I go downstairs to pee in the middle of the night I often catch myself laughing out loud at the sex-crazed, oily looking little bugs who rule my domain. It’s a cranking disco down there at all hours, I guess, like humans, crickets are at their party-est around 3am. The orgy is also very late his year, it's usually a July thing so I’m guessing it has to do with the very wet summer we have had here in Vermont. (This post just keeps getting sexier!)
Every creature has boom and bust years population wise, and this year I’m noticing more Ichneumon wasps (I’m a big fan) with the super long ovipositors that can drill holes in wood! Impressive! (Try that with a penis!) They look really stingy but they’re just packin’. They look extra crazy when they fly with their dangling nethers and long legs trailing behind. I love nature.
The uncool bloodsucking tiny flies are really late and heavy this year too. My poor horses are hanging in there, but rightfully pissed. We have long scratching sessions after feed time every day. I guess you are likely wondering “does she only write about bugs?” No, but I have been chained to the writing porch which is like a bus station for them as there are so many kinds of plants out there. The book is done (at least the first round) and I don’t know exactly how to feel? It’s a blank limbo filled with crickets.
One of the only quiet bugs in town…
“Try that with a penis.” could shut down a lot of stupid debates, mostly in Congress.
I used to love crickets chirping...until one moved into my stove at the beginning of the year. I live in a teeny tiny place, so it was maybe four yards away from where I slept. That little bastard was so loud and he would go Spinal Tap 11 for hours. This went on for *months*. Googling it, I found out a house cricket can live from 90 days to two years (FML). I tried everything. Ev-er-y-thing under the sun to catch him (the one time I saw him on top of the range, he hopped away before I could grab a pint glass to escort him out. Three-and-a-half months later, when I caught him in my sink, I didn't bother reaching for a glass. I'm Buddhist. I'll eat that karma. When you go 15 weeks without sound, uninterrupted sleep (I'm a non-mom), it toys with your sanity. Now, it's PTCD when I hear one chirp outside, close enough that it sounds *inside*. LOL. xo