17-year cicadas

When I learned there would be a plague of cicadas coming up from the ground in Charlottesville I felt a little sick. I mean, they're big bugs and they would be everywhere. Gross. Also, I've never been in a place plagued with cicadas, so I didn't know what to expect. I just heard horror stories of big bugs littering sidewalks and flying into people all the time. *Shiver*

On May 13 I spotted my first cicadas. The minute I pulled into the parking lot at work I could see some on a lamppost in front of me, plus some of their gross brown shell thingies. I walked into my supervisor's office and said gravely, "they're here." She knew exactly what I was talking about.

For a couple weeks I didn't notice them very much though. And then the noise level outside at work raised exponentially. I specify at work, because I work outside of town near tons of trees in forests. In town, I don't notice them at all. I started to think that maybe the cicadas weren't all that bad. In fact, I kind of like getting to experience this 17-year phenomenon that even Thomas Jefferson made note of back in 1775. (Do the math...1775 was fourteen cicada plagues ago!) I get to hear them, but they're not littering my sidewalks or flying into me.

Recently they've perked up though. Not only do I hear them at work, but I look out the window and see them swarming in the trees. Kind of gross. And then today? Today I came home and found this outside my apartment window:

You guys are getting a little too close to home 17-year cicadas...