Actually, this tittle is a pleonasm to me…
Summer is a lot of things. Mostly fun and pleasant things. It’s the best time of year to do outdoors activities, (unless you are into skiing, or ice skating, LOL) the days are long, the sun is warm. The BBQs are hot hot hot on every balcony… Good times!
But for me, the real cue to summer is that moment when the cicadas start singing. If you’ve never heard cicadas (and listened to the video I linked in, at the end of this post), you might wonder what it is that I like so much about the strange hissing sound. It is not a really pleasant sound, indeed, but when a thousand cicadas do it together, it is just magical.
Yes, they are terribly loud. But I can’t get tired of sitting outside listening to the singing cicadas. Probably because I grew up with that sound announcing a summer of fun. Probably because they’ve always been there to remind us that it was the most comfortable time of year… And their song relaxes me, no matter how upset or tired I am.
Even if we can hear them well, it is not often that we get to see them… So I was pretty excited when I came across this little fellow yesterday night, at the end of my shift, at midnight!

I hate using a flash for my evening pictures, because I just love natural light (or lack of)… But this was such an unexpected encounter, that I turned it on for only one picture! I didn’t want to scare it, or hurt this little guy’s eyes! Surprisingly, it stood pretty still, and I got both pictures and let it continue living its cicada life!

I know that most people would qualify them as ugly bugs.
I think they have something magical… They are my Summer Fairies. And during summertime, they often find themselves in my fiction stories, my anecdotes and my poetry…. Talking about that, you can catch up with one of my short fiction pieces, inspired by these strange muses; Cicada Song
Yep, we get ‘em too. Definite sound of summer. Crickets and tree frogs are too. Summer is the best. 😃
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Crickets and frogs are definately very summery, but unfortulately, we don’t hear them in the city 😦 I guess we can’t have it all 😛
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Bummer. Y’all get lightning bugs?
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As in fireflies, or are lightning bugs different?
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Same thing, yes. 😃
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There is just something about that sound… it is magical…
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I agree… It might be because it is their cry for love 🙂
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summer is my favorite time of the year; I’m writing this while listening to katydids!
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🙂 Isn’t it the best soundtrack?
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It’s a great way to fall asleep.
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I loved reading this! Most people I’ve ever spoken to here in NJ, hate the sound of the cicada’s, I find their sound relaxing. I agree with you fully!
Dragonflies, Fireflies, Cicada’s, and Praying Mantis’s (Oh, yeah, Crickets too) Love the Summer for these special little seasonal insects.
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I’ve heard that some cities here wanted to kill cicadas because they were considered a sound nuisance!! How absurd… I can’t believe how so many people are becoming allergic to nature!! Sad thing…
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It is a sad thing… Heck, I remember back to when my father wanted his property up north to sprayed down, because he hated the noise levels.
He was such a jerk.
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😦
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Cicada sound is beautiful, I agree Cyranny 🙂
I don’t mind to hear or see the insects except few of them like mosquitoes and flies. Many of the bigger ones are very beautiful.
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Hahahahaha I agree about the mosquitos and flies, Irene… Especially at night when you’re trying to sleep, and they come flying just next to your ear 😛
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Beautifully shot. 🙂 x
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Thank you, Eleanor 🙂 I was lucky that it wouldn’t move! I love the colors on its wings…
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I agree with all above. But baby frogs are my favorite.🐸
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🙂 I love the frogs too 🙂 I miss their sound, but we don’t have them in the city, unfortunately…
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I have none of those sounds either. Speaking of sounds, the best one I hear in Cheyenne are train whistles.
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spring peepers are equally nostalgic and heart warming as the Cicada when it comes to summer childhood memories https://noelliesplace.com/2019/09/02/cicadas/
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I would definitely be one to call them an ugly bug. 😂
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I couldn’t agree more with your whole post. Glad to meet a fellow Cicada lover https://noelliesplace.com/2019/09/02/cicadas/
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