I have to admit, this isn't one of my prettiest paintings! I've come to love these noisy little guys that emerge from the ground to fill my late summer days with all sorts of buzzing sounds. As long as I can remember, I've always associated summer in Wisconsin with the buzz of the cicadas. When I was a kid, I found the noise to be a little irritating, but now I've come to really appreciate it and look forward to it every year. I always thought the cicadas made noise all through the summer, but upon moving back to Wisconsin a few years back, I realized that they don't start to emerge until late summer. I think the cicadas that I'm used to are the annual or dog day cicadas, given this name because they emerge in late July and August. Did you know that the cicada is the noisiest insect in the world and only the male makes the sounds? I really look forward to hearing my first cicada in the summer. This year Amelia and I heard it at the same time, it was the last week of July, and Amelia looks up at me very excitedly and says "cada mama, cada mama". I love that she was so excited about it and that she actually remembered it from last year! Along with crickets, cicadas are one of my favorite sounds of summer.
