How Long is Too Long

Until today I was convinced that the cicadas were never going to show up. Somebody, somewhere, had made a mistake. Did we say 17 years? Opps, it's really 18 years - my bad. Maybe the cicadas succumbed to global climate change. Maybe they started up and then got confused thinking they'd gone back in time 17 years to the mid 70s instead of forward. They saw the oil crisis, tuned into WMVY and heard them over playing songs by the Eagles, and just went back into their holes. No cicadas? Just think of all those great cicada recipes (especially chocolate covered cicadas) going to waste.
All that changed today when I saw the first one; as big as a JFK half-dollar and plenty creepy looking. It was flattened in the parking lot of the Cataumet Art Center but I was all aquiver anyway. Imagine that. Digging your way to the surface after 17 years underground just to get run over. I'll bet its last though was, "hey, there wasn't a parking lot here 17 years ago." C asked me how I knew it was a cicada. Boy does he challenge me on everything.
The cicadas might just be the most exciting event of my summer. That and bull riding at the fair grounds on Father's Day weekend. That's right - bull riding. I know Susan is going to be shocked to find out about this revelation. Not only do I watch Sex in the City and eat red meat - I like the rodeo. For the sake of my earthy crunchy reputation let me clarify that I watched Sex in the City on TBS not HBO, I rarely cook red meat though I've been know to order it at restaurants, and admittedly I've only been to the rodeo once. That was a whole 12 years ago when Christine and I were in Texas, but I'm excited about the cicadas and it's been a whole 17 years since I saw them last.
Remember when five years seemed like a long time?
I was thinking the other day that the kids who are graduating from high school this month weren't even born when I graduated from college 18 years ago.

song: How Long • artist: The Eagles