Cicadas and Locusts

It is the time of the year when the hot dry summer days and the nights cool off. It is time for the grating sounds of the cicadas and locusts to fill the days and evenings. The peeper frogs are silent from their courtship and mating rituals of the spring and early summer. The daytime birds aren’t singing and have retired to their nests and perches. It is time for students to start back to school. For the longest time these facts didn’t mesh with the reason I’ve always hated hearing the harsh grinding songs of the cicadas and locusts of late summer until recently. It has lingered from my days as a student. When the singing of the cicadas and locusts filled the air, it meant that it was time to return to school. Summer was over. The fun of vacation has come to an end and the times in the classrooms loomed near. Autumn was nearing to be followed by the winter’s cold, snow, and having to bundle up in bulky coats and wearing boots. There would be no more running in my bare feet. No more feeling the green grass between my toes. The swimming holes were frozen over and darkness creped in at the beginning and closing of the day. Hours of darkness became longer. He cold and homework held me captive in my home more than I liked.

I don’t know if anyone other than an entomologist enjoys the rasping songs of cicadas or the locusts, but I don’t. I may also been tainted by the stories of the hordes of locusts in the Bible and their devouring crops causing famine. The locusts are described in The Revelation and the horrible destruction and pain that they will cause.

No matter, I believe that my dislike of these creatures has been shaped by my thoughts of summer ending and the beginning of the school year is at the heart of it. Although I’ve been out of school for almost fifty-five years, those feelings still haunt me. I wonder if teachers have the same feelings.  Goodbye summer. Hello Autumn.