Actually, I thought they were rather interesting
to begin with. The first time I heard them was at Calvary School on one of the last days. They call them locusts, and insist they are locusts, because that’s what everyone calls them in Marion County. Then, I went to the Valley on Friday night and made Mom put her hearing aid in and go outside to listen. At first she said they were the peepers, but then realized that they sounded more like some kind of muffled buzz saw. They next day when we had Michelle’s shower, her young cousins who came down for the the ride and to check the place out were fascinated with their discarded exoskeletons stuck all over the the trees. 
I found them kind of fascinating–the red eyes, the resurrection factor. . . and I didn’t have to deal with them at Kelley Ridge because they weren’t there. Until this last weekend. Until I tried to mow. Until they started to buzz unceasingly to me–“My name is Diego Cicada. . . Prepare to DIE!” Aaaaahhh! It was the Night of the Living Dead Insects in the daytime. Stephen King could not have written anything more terrifying. I mean, think about it–they have been dead for SEVENTEEN YEARS! These are Zombie Bugs! At first I said I would just ignore them. As I mowed around the trees, one would land on my arm or lap, and I would flick if off and go on. But as I moved away from the trees and into the fields, I realized that 90% of them were in the trees when I mowed there–when I mowed in the fields, they wanted to be on ME! In my hair, down my back, on my ear, up my pants leg, under my socks. . .I kept flicking, and cursing, and flicking, and then saying the bad words inside my head because I couldn’t open my mouth or they would be in it! My baseball cap brim was covered with them. Thank goodness my sunglasses deflected the ones that flew toward my eyes. Of course, they don’t sting, but they like to grab, so you can’ just shake them off. You must flick.
I did get the yard mowed–I wasn’t going to let the blasted boogers stop me–but here’s what I want to know–do they have enough sugar in them to be harvested for biofuel? Because if they do, the energy crisis is solved–I might have enough at Kelley Ridge alone to put Saudi Arabia out of business.