We've been hearing them in varying degrees of intensity for about a week now. First over in neighbor Aileen's trees and then over across the street behind Kim's house. 

I got an email from Kim just the other day with the title "Aliens?" where she proceeded to say that she thought we were being invaded by aliens and that the mother ship was close by. She asked if we could hear that noise (like an air conditioner running all the time, she said) and what was it. She said she couldn't tell where it was coming from. Uhm, Kim, it's the 17-Year Cicada invasion. Haven't you heard? I guess she didn't know because she didn't believe me.

Aliens, indeed. They have black bodies with golden wings and beady little red eyes. And yes, it does sound a bit like the mother ship is hovering somewhere close by. They only sing in the mornings through early afternoon which is kind of odd. I don't mind them at all and find their loud cohesive humming rather soothing.

I finally got to see two of them yesterday. One was hanging on the outside of the dining room window screen, and the other was stuck in Bella's wading pool so it made a perfect subject for a photo. I think in the first photo its shadow does look rather like an alien space ship!

I thought it was dead so I tried lifting it out on my finger, but much to my surprise it was very much alive and held on with all its might with its sticky, strong little legs. Ack! I shook it off and it fell back into the water again. I felt sorry for it so I grabbed a piece of wood for it to climb on instead of my finger (which had felt like it was in a vise grip) and rescued the poor thing. I put it on the railing of the deck to dry off and soon it had disappeared—back to become assimilated by the Borg I assume.

And, speaking of being absorbed back into environments again, Rick's mom is now home once again. We are happy to announce she arrived without taking any cross-country detours and with her luggage! We thoroughly enjoyed her stay. More on that a bit later …

ADDENDUM: Steve found this great link to a video of the cicadas, complete with a musician to sing along with them. You can find it in the comment section or click here.

Linked to Rural Blog Hop!

Amazing pictures!
Glad your MIL made it back home ok…one crazy trip is enough.  Hope you are feeling better.

I’d love to see them and hear them, but am glad they are not around here.  They only live about 6 weeks so tell Kim she won’t have to put up with them for too long.  Hadn’t realized you were such a Trekie! 

Debra, glad you enjoyed. I am feeling about 50% better, thanks!

C, they don’t appear to be doing any damage, so not sure why you wouldn’t want to have them around?
Too bad they can’t add to the symphony of our usual cicadas who will this year be in their 7th year and therefore as plentiful as the year we first moved here. They were deafening! We have always been die hard Trekkies. When we moved to Holland we bought my mom and dad a state -of-the-art satellite dish so that they could record Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager to send to us. We wish they had not stopped. Nothing quite like them.

Wow, I love those pictures! Especially that top one—a prize-winner for sure. What weird-looking bugs.

Here’s a crazy idea: Do you know how to put an audio clip on your blog? I would love to hear what these things sound like. Maybe you could record the buzz and give us a sample via SoundCloud or something? (Actually someone else may already have done that—I suppose I should try Googling!)

Steve, thank you! And it’s not such a crazy idea because yesterday I tried to capture the sound of the them with my camera only it didn’t sound like much when I played it back. We’re going to try and see if we can’t get a good recording of them and put it on the blog.

That’s great, Lynne! Meanwhile, I came across this video on the NY Times web site that shows what they sound like, as well as the efforts of a musician to perform with them!

http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/06/02/science/100000002258320/clarinet-with-cicada-chorus.html

Steve! What a great video! Thanks so much for the link. If you don’t mind I am going to post that link on the end of the post. It’s exactly what it sounds like around my house!

... without the clarinet or saxophone

Neat shot in the pool. So far nothing in my part of Connecticut concerning the alien insects.

Great shots!