One summer I longed for the sound of crickets. Remembering back to carefree summers in California as a child, hearing their serenade in the still evening air as we camped in the Napa Valley. The only thing I could think of was to buy a bag of live crickets at a pet store (they sell them as frog food) and release them into our garden. Well I did and nothing happened, not one little chirp all night. Apparently it has to be warmer than it is here for them to make their sweet little sounds. Thank goodness there is this cool web site where I can go and get a hit of the sound I long for. I just wish I could remeber who to thank for turning me on to this site. Stephanie? Was it you?
Fantastic website, wasn't me....but I'll be checking this out and comparing to our CACAUPHANY of cricket noises that we get once the weather gets warmer...
Who knew there were so many variaties??
I missed the new skin arrival (praying mantis) that happened at my neighbors last summer, but the description by spf is amazing!
Posted by: stephanie | February 24, 2008 at 09:01 AM
In Texas you still get crickets and cicada's. It's a signature summer sound. I do like it, but it also means HOT and HOT can last along time in Texas!!
Happy Sunday.
Hope you make something cool today Jenny!
xox
Constance
Posted by: rochambeau | February 24, 2008 at 07:02 AM
No, Somepinkflowers, can't say that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing such a sight or wearing a little shedded skin thingy on my t-shirt. I look forward to it sometime.
Posted by: Jenny F | February 23, 2008 at 06:56 PM
very cool, missy.
i have one million of these
in my yard in the fall:
~*noisy cicada*~
[[not their real name,
but you get the picture]]
when they crawl up on a plant
to make their life-change,
it is fun to watch the tight skin split open
down the back
and to watch the new-improved cicada emerge.
it can take an entire afternoon. i know.
have you done that? watched it happen?
the wings are flat
and rather curled up
then they sort of blossom out into Real Wings...
when the cicada flys away
you take the dried skin shell-thingy left over
and wear it like a brooch
on your T-shirt,
or,
well, kids do
and sometimes
i still do
did you, do you,
do that?
i bet these things are everywhere in the world,
leaving little skin-shells behind.
Posted by: somepinkflowers | February 23, 2008 at 06:42 PM
Jenny, thanks for the idea, I goggled fog horns and came up with the sound from the horns on the Golden Gate Bridge, which I am sure is what I heard as a kid.
http://www.postcard.org/foghorn.htm
Posted by: Cousin Julie | February 23, 2008 at 08:36 AM
A great site Jenny, if you like bugs, I am not crazy about bugs myself (but still a great site) and the Dog-day Cicada reminded me of August here in the Northeast. With snow and ice on the ground right now, it is a summers day dream. What I miss most about the San Francisco bay area is the two-toned fog horns I could hear as a child. Do you remember the sound? I bet they were loud since you lived right on the bay. Now if there was a site for fog horns, that I would bookmark! :)
Posted by: Cousin Julie | February 23, 2008 at 08:25 AM