Monday, August 22, 2011

Thump.

Last night, about 10:00: Thump. It wasn't very loud but the source was quite definite: someone had thumped the porch window of the Computing Center here at Roseholme Cottage. Thump. There it went again.

Well, Tam was expecting a pizza and I took out the doorbell for the house-painting.... I opened the curtains and looked out. Nothing and nobody any closer than a family across the way, folding up the bouncy castle from their daughter's birthday.

I'd no sooner sat back down than: Thump. This is getting annoying! I ignored it, and the next two, then three in a row -- I had to look.

An enormous cicada was buzzing the porch light, like a demented blimp. Every few orbits (or so), it would blunder into the window, with a good solid Thump.

Made my way through the house to the front door, opened it -- not a sign. So I went out and looked for it. Found it huddled on the porch floor behind Tam's little side table; when I moved the table, the cicada buzzed up, startled, with a loud, "eeeEEEEEEEEEeeeeeEEP!" Way bigger than my thumb and shiny as a new penny.

I left it to whatever it was about. Thump.
at

8 comments:

  1. The Big GuyAugust 22, 2011 at 8:31 AM

    Sooo...
    What caliber for Magicicada tredecassini?

    (The question had to be asked...)

    TBG

    ReplyDelete
  2. Roberta XAugust 22, 2011 at 9:07 AM

    .177 air pistol?

    --But I find them harmless, amusing creatures. I wouldn't hunt them. (Plus they are usually too wily).

    ReplyDelete
  3. BGMillerAugust 22, 2011 at 9:21 AM

    One of the schnauzers has decided that cicadas are nothing more than treats on the wing. He likes catching them as they make their commute to the local molting tree but absolutely loves getting one that's airborne. If Sgt. Huck could be trusted outside I'd suggest introducing him to the little buggers. The acrobatics of the intercept are hilarious.


    And TBG, try those little .22 LR shot shells.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LeeAnnAugust 22, 2011 at 10:01 AM

    That would have scared the crap out of me... not the thumping so much as the horrible insecty source.
    I want to be like Spiderman, only with bug spray shooting out of my wrists instead of web.
    A girl can dream.

    ReplyDelete
  5. BGMillerAugust 22, 2011 at 6:40 PM

    LOL
    Here too?

    Stop....stop....can't breathe....laughing...too...hard...

    Seriously....

    BGM

    ReplyDelete
  6. Roberta XAugust 22, 2011 at 8:56 PM

    Boycott away, d00d! Please.

    ReplyDelete
  7. DrangAugust 23, 2011 at 6:42 AM

    A single cicada can be a neat critter. A bazillion of them can drive an entire neighborhood, um, buggy. And they're big enough that a .22, maybe the recommended .22 shotshell, would be appropriate.

    What caliber for Phantom Rickshaw Pulling Troll?

    ReplyDelete
  8. BGMillerAugust 23, 2011 at 9:44 AM

    Drang, for the Phantom Rickshaw Troll I'd reccommend a 12ga slug made of compressed, powdered, depleted uranium. Kind of like those powdered tungsten breaching rounds.

    If a 12ga is okay for trolls and depleted uranium is good for phantoms (works for Harry Dresden) then with the two you should be good to go.

    I'd aim low on a troll. Being a troll I figure a head shot isn't going to hit anything important.

    BGM

    WV: typhyd - Typing with a lisp?

    ReplyDelete

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