A Swarming Invasion!
Months ago, we received news predicting that May through mid-June 2024 would be the optimum time for the thirteen to seventeen-year cycle of Cicadas. After making their appearance, we were told to brace for the invasion and especially the deafening noise that their mating calls would evoke. Experts said that if we could ignore them during the height of the season, it would soon be all over. Once their mating ends and the females lay their eggs…mission accomplished!
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| "What you looking at, Willis?" |
Last
Saturday, we took a short, forty-five-minute road trip east to a Decatur-area Walmart.
It would be in this setting that we would have our first encounter with the annoying,
buzzing, and even frightening Cicada invasion. After we had just parked in
front of the store, and opened our car doors, we heard blood curdling screams from three little
girls approximately 3 or 4 years old. We presumed they were siblings and could
see that their mother was trying to quickly get them into the store as they were
screaming all the way!
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| Yum? |
The infuriating
infiltrators were all over the place! Thinking about a blog article, I pulled
out my camera and took a few pics. But immediately, I fell prey to their
attempts to follow me into the car. I couldn’t shut the door soon enough.
Monique and I sat there in our spot and soon heard an ominous chirp! She looked
my way and said, “Is that one of them?” I reluctantly responded, “I hope not,
but I think so!”
Within a
minute, we heard two other chirps! Monique couldn’t wait to bolt from the car
at Aldi’s and warned me as she did, “Please do something about this before I
get finished shopping!” All I could do was say, “Yes, honey, I’ll try!” I tried
to extricate the little critter who had gone to hide from me in the crack
between the back glass and seat back panel that meets up with it! I unsuccessfully
searched for an object to scrape him out, but after spying a nearby car wash
with rows of vacuums, I thought, “Hmmm…I’ll vacuum the little booger out and send
him into ‘cicada universe!’”
After
lining up in one of the vacuum bays, I quickly found myself asking, “How do I
open the doors and do this necessary extermination without inviting many other
‘dive bombers’ into the car’s cabin?” It was a daunting task in those few nerve-racking
minutes of hurried vacuuming! The uncomfortable reality of all my efforts was
that I never could say for sure that I had ridden myself of the pesky “little
guy!” But the chirping did subside! So, I must have sent him on his way!
Later that
day, I read an article trying to understand this “cicada invasion.” I
discovered an interesting fact. I may have gone the wrong direction in using the
carwash vacuum for my eradication because cicadas are drawn to the noise of
machines like lawn mowers and leaf blowers! That noisy carwash vacuum explains
why I was seeing so many more cicadas swarming in that space! They were
following an “artificial courting call!” All I could do was laugh!
Noise! We live in a time of heightened
activity and deafening noise! It is a cacophony of cultural distractions. It is
hard to decide at times what really matters. We are pulled in so many
directions. Our adult children and their families live at such a frenzied pace driven
by minute-by-minute schedules! There are teenage work schedules, ball games, and
numerous social, school and work commitments. And add to that the blessing of
an active church life as well! All of this keeps them hopping!
I would be
worried were it not for the fact that I know that both parents and children are
grounded in their faith in Christ. I’m glad they are active in their faith
communities where they interact and find friendship and support among other young
adult families struggling with similar life issues! But my question is this, “How
do families cope when they do not have such a grounding?” I fear that they do
not fare too well!
Over
thirty-five years ago I read a book by Dr. Tim Kimmel (noted author and CEO of Family
Matters). The book had a catchy title: Little House on the Freeway:
Help for the Hurried Home. Back in the day, it was a helpful resource
for Monique and me when our own family was busy doing life. This book was re-released
in 2008 and copies are still in circulation. It’s my opinion that not much has
changed over these last years except it seems that this generation of parents is
even more hurried!
Kimmel first
passed this advice along back in the eighties, but it is still a good word for
today. “God wants us to enjoy genuine rest – not just the “good night’s sleep”
kind of rest that satisfies the body but an internal rest that bathes the soul
in contentment.” Two words immediately jump off the page for me: contentment
and rest. Who doesn’t need to learn contentment? And what reasonable person would
refuse rest?
Jesus
still invites “hurried” individuals and families to “dial down” by following
His invitation, “Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.
I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me…learn the unforced rhythms
of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with
me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30, The
Message).
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Great story, actually funny, but sure it wasn’t at the time, seems everyone has a lot on our plates but I pray God will be first on our minds. God Bless you all
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