The cicada's clicking hum starts slow and builds to a crescendo that conjures images of a hot summer day when Slurpees ruled, and Big Buddies were the gum of choice.
This summer happens to be the year of the "Brood X," the cicada type that comes out once every 17 years. These bugs have been in hibernation since 2004 when George W. Bush was thinking about his second term, YouTube was gaining momentum, and the highlight of the Super Bowl was Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction."
The Brood X is just one of a few types of cicadas that come out on schedule when the ground is regularly about 64 degrees Fahrenheit, which is around mid-May. They aren't everywhere either, just around the southeastern U.S. and as far west as the Ohio area, but the lines are blurred a bit - who's watching them anyway?
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