linaewen: (Irritated)
Linaewen ([personal profile] linaewen) wrote2007-05-29 04:45 pm
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My weekend, good and bad

I had a lovely time this weekend, which I already mentioned in part in my last post -- a gorgeous day canoeing with friends from church and picnicing afterwards. 

The really neat part of the weekend happened yesterday, when DH and I went for a walk in our local arboretum (which is just woods with various trails in it, nothing fancy) and we saw 17-year cicadas!  I've never seen those special ones, but I had heard they might be seen this year in our area.  I adore cicadas, always have, and I have been very keen to see the 17-year ones, but have never managed it.  But sure enough, they are in this area and we discovered them at the far end of one of the trails where it came out of the woods and passed along the edge of a more open meadow.  They were all over the place, but not making much noise; we think they were only recently "hatched" and hadn't got all their wits about them just yet.  Which was too bad, because the birds were really having a feast while the cicadas sat there soaking in the rays.  There were many more than we even saw, a big group off in the woods, making quite a bit of noise, but it was a nice sound.  It sounded more like tree frogs than cicadas.  We plan go back to the place in a few days and see if the noise level is any louder.  ;-)

The bad part of the weekend is that I did get a sunburn in spite of all my precautions, and it is slowly driving me mad.  ;-)  It's more like an allergic reaction than a sunburn, and the itching is fierce.   I know what to do for it, since I had this problem last year, and my remedies will eventually help -- but in the meantime, I'm feeling pretty puny and trying not to bite people's heads off because I am miserable.  I am most thankful that I have had some periods of relief from the itching today, and I am praying for more!

I don't want to end this post on a sour note, so I'll add a picture of a 17 year cicada.  I think they are beautiful, though I know there are some out there who might disagree, lol!

[identity profile] stephantasy.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 06:14 am (UTC)(link)
We don't have cicadas over here afaik, but we do have crickets and frogs and I do adore the sounds they make. It's perfect for falling asleep on a summer's night.

My husband hate them, though. LOL!

Sounds like a great weekend, and I definitely think that cicada is pretty, or at the very least a very interesting creature. Thank you for sharing!

[identity profile] lin4gondor.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 02:15 pm (UTC)(link)
It's too bad the cicadas are out in the woods and not in town, because I like falling asleep to their trilling as well. We'll get the regular kind of cicada later in the summer, though, and then we'll hear some singing!