Ken (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} shadowplay2) wrote,@ 2006-08-11 21:56:00 |
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summer of the cicada
This morning as I was walking to the train, a bird dashed into the tree just in front of me, missed what it was after, and a cicada tumbled onto the sidewalk not two feet in front of me. The bird started to go after it, saw me and had second thoughts.
Cicadas are the oddest looking critters. Huge bulbous heads, big eyes, tapering to a tiny body, pointed at the back, with stubby clear wings. This one was mottled olive green and black... pretty and ugly at the same time.
The sound of cicadas is everywhere this summer of course, at least around Chicago. It's a constant sound, pleasant in a funny sort of way, becoming part of the accepted background after a while. These guys come up on various cycles, I haven't bothered to research which variety is up this year, but there sure are a lot of them.
* * *
In the meantime, the silliness around the airport thing has gone absurd. I've heard so many misinterpretations of security policy today, bizarre minglings of British and U.S. steps. Really, it's not difficult, if people would just LISTEN and THINK.
* * *
I'm spending my evening spare time devouring books this trip, already all the way through one tonight and started on a second. I'm on a history and foreign policy kick at the moment, and reading about decades-old events in the context given by time makes the current hysteria seem all the sillier. Probably people in the past were at least as quick to jump to undisciplined and poorly thought out conclusions. But it still seems so pointless to have to listen to it today. A longer-term, bigger picture view explains much, especially if one questions assumptions and administration propaganda.
This morning as I was walking to the train, a bird dashed into the tree just in front of me, missed what it was after, and a cicada tumbled onto the sidewalk not two feet in front of me. The bird started to go after it, saw me and had second thoughts.
Cicadas are the oddest looking critters. Huge bulbous heads, big eyes, tapering to a tiny body, pointed at the back, with stubby clear wings. This one was mottled olive green and black... pretty and ugly at the same time.
The sound of cicadas is everywhere this summer of course, at least around Chicago. It's a constant sound, pleasant in a funny sort of way, becoming part of the accepted background after a while. These guys come up on various cycles, I haven't bothered to research which variety is up this year, but there sure are a lot of them.
* * *
In the meantime, the silliness around the airport thing has gone absurd. I've heard so many misinterpretations of security policy today, bizarre minglings of British and U.S. steps. Really, it's not difficult, if people would just LISTEN and THINK.
* * *
I'm spending my evening spare time devouring books this trip, already all the way through one tonight and started on a second. I'm on a history and foreign policy kick at the moment, and reading about decades-old events in the context given by time makes the current hysteria seem all the sillier. Probably people in the past were at least as quick to jump to undisciplined and poorly thought out conclusions. But it still seems so pointless to have to listen to it today. A longer-term, bigger picture view explains much, especially if one questions assumptions and administration propaganda.
