It was an ordinary day. Getting ready to call my friend Hal and see if he and his wife are interested in heading to Mount Gretna to hear a concert or two this coming summer. Tickets haven't been offered for sale yet...but hopefully sometime in the near future they will be. The past half-dozen years Carol and I have gone to Mount Gretna with Hal and Jeannie to hear Phil Dirt and the Dozers which are one of the featured bands during the Cicada Festival which runs during the first full week in August.
 |
| One of our favorite bands...Phil Dirt and the Dozers. |
The concert gets its name from the sound of the cicadas that at times add the background tempo to the music that is on the outdoor stage at Mount Gretna. I was recently reminded of the festival when I read a headline in the local newspaper titled "Billions of cicadas to emerge." Seems that the Brood X cicadas are set to arrive this year after being underground since 2004. Do you know how many years ago they were last humming around the grounds at Mount Gretna?
 |
| The Mount Gretna outdoor playhouse. |
The last time they surfaced the Boston Red Sox broke an 86-year World Series drought. Now, they are about emerge in the next few weeks to help to orchestrate the soundtrack of the Summer festival. Brood X surfaces every 17 years while other groups have 13 year cycles. How do they know when it is time to wake up and begin to add background music to the performers at Mount Gretna? Cicadas feed from the sap of trees and plants and count freeze-and-thaw cycles as an "internal tally system" that tells them when it is time to surface. Brood X is one of the largest groups of cicadas and their emergence this year may total over a billion. Can you imagine the noise they will make? First of all, the soil must warm to about 64 degrees before they will begin their exit. Probably will happen in the third week of May, but could be sooner. Naturally has to do with the location where they are located. Brood X is supposed to be in about 18 states from Michigan to Georgia and from the east coast to Illinois. My home state of Pennsylvania is one of the states that will see and hear their noisy music. When they arrive from underground, they will feed on small trees, shrubs and plants but will not hurt humans.
 |
| The adult cicada |
They are just really big and awkward. It is a marvelous display which we only get to see every 17 years. Next time I get to see then I will be in my mid-90s. The noise they make is a buzzing sound as they look for a mate. At times it can be deafening and if they ar still around during the Cicada Festival, they will definitely add some background music for Phil Dirt and the Dozers. Some cicadas "sing" in different tones from a mellow whistle to to a raspy chorus. I don't mind them too much as long as they keep close to the same tune as the band. At times their noise can be up to 90 decibels which is the sound of a motorcycle. You get a few hundred together and the band can perform without the drummer. A human can damage their hearing in about an hour of constant noise from the cicadas. Only good thing with Brood X is once they emerge they will only be with us for about six weeks. Then the nymphs will go underground until 2038. I should tell you that cicadas are edible and taste like tofu. They are gluten free, high in protein and low in fat and carbs. And, if you eat enough of them you will more than likely hum while sleeping. Hope you are prepared for this. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
No comments:
Post a Comment