#271...IV. Fond Memories and Cicadas

          a.  It was 1970 and I was only 9 years old when "it" happened.  The summer of the cicada.  empty shells and buzzing bug-eyed critters everywhere.  Walking with friends to the neighborhood pharmacy in Towson, Maryland, the chirping and buzzing had been going on for weeks.  "I heard you could eat them," no one in particular exclaimed.  I had my doubts, but that set the stage for the greatest challenge of our young lives.  "Do you cook them first?"  Well, of course you do.  It's like any other animal.  Raw would be too much to handle, and it might lead to some undiscovered disease or sickness, like eating raw chicken or eggs.  So we set off with our pickle jars and combed the woods near the high school.  The trees were buzzing.  You could pick them off the bark, and somtimes stick one on your unsuspecting buddies neck.  Talk about jumping!  Once we had rounded up our catch, with about 10 or so to a jar, the next decision was where to do the deed.  My dad was at work and mom wasn't at home.  In a family as large as mine, only my older brother of 11 was around.  He joined in the fun.  We grabbed a pan and covered the bottom with butter, then fired up the gas burner.  The butter began to sizzle and it was time.  Off came the jar lid.  A few escaped and flew around the kitchen, fluying toward the kitchen window or curtains.  "We must have to stun them," it was suggested.  So grabbing one in the palm of the hand and a violent thrash toward the floor, "Thwump".  Perfectly stunned, and whisking it off the floor and into the pan.  The wings crackle, everything crackles.  This is one noisy crackling food! This is so gross, but this was the most awesome thing we had ever done.  We cooked about a dozen, and decided that was enough.  Pouring them into a bowl, we still couldn't believe what we were about to do.  I mean, I once had to sit at the table for 2 hours before I finished my peas.  But then it happened.  Without further hesitation I grabbed it and popped the entire critter into my mouth.  As I bit down it still made a crunch I was sure everyone in the room had heard.  Jaws dropped and eyes bulged.  "Well, what's it like?"  I finished chewing and finally swallowed.  I looked over the stunned faces and could only mutter one thing. "Needs salt."  -mcgrawinmb            

          b.  My Granddaddy told me this story a long time ago. I believe him. When he was 6 he was outside playing. He let a fart and all of a sudden a bunch of cicadas started flying after him. He ran as fast as he could but could not out run them. He fell. The cicadas all landed on his butt. He swears they like the smell of farts. His mom had to pick the cicadas off his pants. Don't fart outside when the cicadas come.  -creamygoodness47            

          c. My dad told me, when he was young, he called them "zeeries" because he didn't know the name and that was the sound they amde -- zeery, zeery, zeery...keblokr            

       d. The funniest thing I ever saw was a macho dude at a stoplight with his windows open.  One flew into his car.  He started waving and gyrating, threw open his door and jumped out.  The light changed.  After I was able to stop laughing, I drove around him & went on my way.  I'll bet he's STILL waiting for that cicada to get out of his car.  -achibis470

         e.  ...Sorry folks the cat hit the enter key...anyways I am told I have to leave the store immediately...I asked why and she said "Please no fuss just leave now...." I got angry and told her I wasn't leaving until she told me why...then she leaned over and said "Because you have a cicada on your back..."  I said "OMG Please come with me and get it off" she said "NO QAY!" and led me out...as soon as I cleared the store and got in the vesibule I yanked that tee shirt off so damn fast and people were looking and laughing......I was shaking it and screaming....love those cicadas (not)!!!      xoxolovebuggoxox

(>I yanked that tee shirt off so damn fast and people were looking and laughing......I was shaking it and screaming....love those cicadas  Man, I would have loved to be there, Do you Cyber Cicadas  -jojogima)

             f.  I remember the 17 year Cicadas as a child.  We use to catch them and put them in jars and study them.  My sisters and I were very much into nature and catching things that were interesting.  We loved the sound they made and would mock them as best we could.  Remember the warm spring nights listening to their bug music.  My dogs and cats found them most tasty though I never had the guts to eat them and still don't care too.  Though we I remember when they were crushed they looked like my moms Cole Slaw inside....I haven't been too fond of Cole Slaw since :-)  -bellepayton

             g.  I was just a little boy in Tennessee when we would hear them in the trees all day long and some times at night. I would go out early in the morning and try and catch them before they would shed their skin, being that the shell was all we would be left on trees after they driedoff and flew away. But it wasn't until my uncle woke me up early in the morning about 4 am with a flash light to show me what really went on. and how they shed there skin. He told me that they come out of the ground every 10 years. I remember some old people would say that they were lost souls that wouldn't go to hell that's why they scream all day. I learned to like the Cicadas and how they strive to survive.
cool bug........  brklynbone1

             h.  I was 16, driving one day through downtown DC by the monument and one flew in the window. It hit my chest and fell between my legs. I wasn't sure what it was, I thought it was a leaf or something, duh... so I reached down and when I felt it I almost wrecked...I was doing about 30 and slammed on the brakes while simultaneously throwing it into park and bailing out flailing around and slapping at my crotch. Talk about feeling stupid and foolish....especialy with all the traffic and people around.....lol.....Aahhh Those were the days!  -jvjganey

             i.  I can't recall the year but I remember I was still driving my '67 Plymouth Fury III  one of the  ugliest automobiles ever made and basic like a taxi cab with a bench front seat, AM radio and standard tires.  When the little buggers got thick enough to cover a street I slipped and slid and fishtailed as if the asphalt had turned into clay.  My tires would spin unable to muster any traction and on several occasions the horrific embarassment of  spraying pedestrians with cicada viscera  as my car would wiggle and shimmy its way forward through a light.  Washing the undercarriage and wheel wells still one of the gross out memories of my youth second only to treating cattle for screw worm.  flixspix

             j.  omigosh it was in my hair:  ok one time i was at my grandmoms and this bug flew in my haair and i started crying and i was all scared and stuff i mean u would be 2 right so then like it fell out and the i hit with a rock BUT IT DIDNT DIE ! so then i like threw salt on it but my grandmom said that only works for slugs ?????  who new?  anyways so the i just like left it there and then i went to the mall!  happybunnygc16

             k.  As a kid in Virginia in the early 40's the Cicadas were affectionately reffered to as "Katy-dids. We loved to hunt for the empty shells. -royvm

             l.  I love their song, it sounds like summer. -freethrowquru

       m.  the first time i saw one i was about 10 yrs old. nobody knew what it was. we thought it was from outer space. it was already dead. so we got a good close look. it glowed with all the colors of the rainbow when the light hit it. we knew it couldn't be from earth, there wasn't anything that cool here. it was SOOOO BIG!!! when dad said that that bug was what made the noise inthe trees, we knew then they were from outerspace, cause nothing that small could make that much noise. we only saw 3 more but we weren't as afraid of them as we were the huge black japanese beetles that swarmed near the old ladies pine tree.  -valleriesdell

         n.  My grandma used to call them sewing bugs, because they sounded like sewing machines buzzing away! -cashat4k
 
            o.  My father and I used to take their empty shells off trees and wear them as pins on our shirts, and freak out my mother.....those were the days....bartosh811

            p.  as a child, 17 years ago, my mom and i would venture outside to cut their heads as they exited from the ground. try it. there's nothing like garden scissors during this plague....beth1abell