Cicadas are coming, cicadas are coming!!! Oh my.....
Moderator: S2k Moderators
Since I'm back to walking my dog every morning I looked again for cicadas at this park. It is hard to spot them, since they're only in certain sections. But they're still there! No noise, no flying about, just sitting there on leaves. Some are still in their cocoons, or whatever they're called, ready to pop out. At that stage, they look creepy, like a curled up worm, with feet!
I still wasn't freaked out. There's a local article about a woman who will NOT pull her car in or out of her garage. Cicadas are all over this garage and she's petrified of them! So her son is doing this job for her. Once she's inside and the garage door is down I guess, only then will she venture out of her car. Silly huh? I'll try to dig up that article. It is funny. Now maybe that lady needs to go on a long vacation!!!!
Mary
PS - Here it is - enjoy, it's a prize alright!!!
___________________
Cincinnati Post
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
http://www.cincypost.com/2004/05/18/cicada051804.html
By Jeff Patterson
Post staff reporter
The hundreds of cicadas lining Kym Kelly's garage door have kept her on a frightened lockdown.
Kelly, 40, a Wyoming hospital worker, has been so fearful of the invasion of winged visitors that she makes her son drive her car into and out of their garage. She'll only get into the vehicle once it's in a cicada-free zone.
"I can't even tell you how afraid I am of them," Kelly told 24 other cicada-phobes Monday night at a workshop in Mount Auburn aimed at helping local residents cope with the arrival of more than a million of the insects.
The workshop was sponsored by the Mental Health Association of the Cincinnati Area.
Cicadas don't bite or sting humans, and for most people are more a nuisance than anything else. But the fear of them can disable some people, said clinical psychologist Dr. Karl Jackson, who moderated the workshop.
"It keeps you from doing things you want to do," Jackson said of the cicada phobia.
So Jackson advised the audience to confront the creatures -- by yelling at them.
He led the group in shouting "get away."
"I'm not advocating yelling, but if a person is not free to protect themselves, they're in trouble," Jackson said.
He didn't advocate swatting cicadas with a tennis racquet dubbed the Cicadanator, either. But he said it could help.
"If you bop a cicada, it'll reduce your fear," he said.
Jackson would rather see people suffering from cicada phobia do that than what some other people at the workshop suggested.
Kelly walks around with a clear domed-umbrella to keep cicadas from falling on her.
Others said they dressed up like bee keepers by wearing rimmed hats with a long veils draped down over their shoulders and beyond.
Even other people afraid of cicadas shook their heads at that idea.
Jackson said there is nothing funny about the phobia.
Kelly said that when the cicadas emerged from her lawn, she cried.
Claudette Crawford, 38, a Goodwill case manager from Clifton, said she just wants to stay inside until the cicadas have sung their love song and died.
"They are coming from the pits of hell, and basically it takes 17 years for them to get here," Crawford said. "They are just everywhere. I think I'll need a six-week vacation."
Jessica Allen, 33, an insurance saleswoman from College Hill, said although the workshop was helpful in teaching her how to cope with the insects, she still is afraid of them.
"It's definitely the fear of the unknown," she said. "The horror stories and with my fear of bugs, I know I'm going to have a problem."
But Jackson said staying calm would go a long way to resolving the problem.
"If you stay relaxed around something you are scared of, your phobic reaction won't stay for long," he said.
Kelly said being in the group helped reassure her of her sanity.
"I knew I wasn't the only one," she said. "Everybody is afraid of something. They just may not admit it."
All 25 people in the workshop were female, which didn't surprise Jackson.
"Statistically, females have more phobic reactions," he said.
FREE WORKSHOP
• The Mental Health Association of the Cincinnati Area will hold another free cicada workshop 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 24 on the fourth floor of the Community Chest Building at 2400 Reading Road.
• The program is open to the public.
I still wasn't freaked out. There's a local article about a woman who will NOT pull her car in or out of her garage. Cicadas are all over this garage and she's petrified of them! So her son is doing this job for her. Once she's inside and the garage door is down I guess, only then will she venture out of her car. Silly huh? I'll try to dig up that article. It is funny. Now maybe that lady needs to go on a long vacation!!!!
Mary
PS - Here it is - enjoy, it's a prize alright!!!
___________________
Cincinnati Post
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
http://www.cincypost.com/2004/05/18/cicada051804.html
By Jeff Patterson
Post staff reporter
The hundreds of cicadas lining Kym Kelly's garage door have kept her on a frightened lockdown.
Kelly, 40, a Wyoming hospital worker, has been so fearful of the invasion of winged visitors that she makes her son drive her car into and out of their garage. She'll only get into the vehicle once it's in a cicada-free zone.
"I can't even tell you how afraid I am of them," Kelly told 24 other cicada-phobes Monday night at a workshop in Mount Auburn aimed at helping local residents cope with the arrival of more than a million of the insects.
The workshop was sponsored by the Mental Health Association of the Cincinnati Area.
Cicadas don't bite or sting humans, and for most people are more a nuisance than anything else. But the fear of them can disable some people, said clinical psychologist Dr. Karl Jackson, who moderated the workshop.
"It keeps you from doing things you want to do," Jackson said of the cicada phobia.
So Jackson advised the audience to confront the creatures -- by yelling at them.
He led the group in shouting "get away."
"I'm not advocating yelling, but if a person is not free to protect themselves, they're in trouble," Jackson said.
He didn't advocate swatting cicadas with a tennis racquet dubbed the Cicadanator, either. But he said it could help.
"If you bop a cicada, it'll reduce your fear," he said.
Jackson would rather see people suffering from cicada phobia do that than what some other people at the workshop suggested.
Kelly walks around with a clear domed-umbrella to keep cicadas from falling on her.
Others said they dressed up like bee keepers by wearing rimmed hats with a long veils draped down over their shoulders and beyond.
Even other people afraid of cicadas shook their heads at that idea.
Jackson said there is nothing funny about the phobia.
Kelly said that when the cicadas emerged from her lawn, she cried.
Claudette Crawford, 38, a Goodwill case manager from Clifton, said she just wants to stay inside until the cicadas have sung their love song and died.
"They are coming from the pits of hell, and basically it takes 17 years for them to get here," Crawford said. "They are just everywhere. I think I'll need a six-week vacation."
Jessica Allen, 33, an insurance saleswoman from College Hill, said although the workshop was helpful in teaching her how to cope with the insects, she still is afraid of them.
"It's definitely the fear of the unknown," she said. "The horror stories and with my fear of bugs, I know I'm going to have a problem."
But Jackson said staying calm would go a long way to resolving the problem.
"If you stay relaxed around something you are scared of, your phobic reaction won't stay for long," he said.
Kelly said being in the group helped reassure her of her sanity.
"I knew I wasn't the only one," she said. "Everybody is afraid of something. They just may not admit it."
All 25 people in the workshop were female, which didn't surprise Jackson.
"Statistically, females have more phobic reactions," he said.
FREE WORKSHOP
• The Mental Health Association of the Cincinnati Area will hold another free cicada workshop 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 24 on the fourth floor of the Community Chest Building at 2400 Reading Road.
• The program is open to the public.
0 likes
No more walks in the park for me, for a while.....see my topic on the off topic forum. I fell today while walking Hope. I'll just blame it on the cicadas, they were distracting me!!! No, it was loose gravel I think that made me fall. My ankle just turned under me almost. I was down in probably 2 seconds. Dang it! I just hate when I do things like this. And we did see more cicadas today. Even some flying about. They're testing their wings now.
Mary
Mary
0 likes
-
- Tropical Depression
- Posts: 88
- Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2003 2:53 am
- Location: Harrison, Ohio
- therock1811
- Category 5
- Posts: 5163
- Age: 40
- Joined: Thu May 15, 2003 2:15 pm
- Location: Kentucky
- Contact:
- therock1811
- Category 5
- Posts: 5163
- Age: 40
- Joined: Thu May 15, 2003 2:15 pm
- Location: Kentucky
- Contact:
We have cidadas at our house now. You can hear their singing all day long and I have to say, it's not bothering me at all. I don't know what all the fuss is about. We see a few flying about but mostly they're hanging near the very back of our yard, in the woods. If I didn't know better, it would just sound like a bunch of noisy crickets and it would feel like August, not May! At least that's when I notice crickets going nuts in this area.
Now I have to say one community, near the College of Mt. St. Joseph, where Professor Kritsky works, has been hit hard. One street was featured on the local news. And they are all over decks, sidewalks, yards there.
But honestly, it's 6 weeks out of our lives - I still understand don't why people are getting so bent out of shape over this once every 17 years invasion!
Mary
Now I have to say one community, near the College of Mt. St. Joseph, where Professor Kritsky works, has been hit hard. One street was featured on the local news. And they are all over decks, sidewalks, yards there.
But honestly, it's 6 weeks out of our lives - I still understand don't why people are getting so bent out of shape over this once every 17 years invasion!
Mary
0 likes
Annette - here's a funny story for you. My husband works with his sister, at the company their dad started years ago. She lives in an older community but in a newer home. I get the impression she thought her yard and street would get off easy, since it was a newer developement, from 8 years ago. For weeks now she's been saying that she just couldn't understand all the hype and hysteria. Why are people so freaked out by cicadas? Silly she said. Okay, fast forward to now. Her street is bombarded with them! There's one tree close to their back door, that is literally filled with them. A next door neighbor has dead cicada carcasses littering the ground. Wait it gets better.....or worse, depending upon how you look at it. The cicadas started coming in their fireplace flue, since it was left open. They closed that. Next they were getting in thru an eave or attic space and she'll just be sitting there, and one will go whizzing by. She's literally freaked out by this now! Jim said she's not laughing anymore, she's quite upset! When one flies in the house and lands on the floor, she won't touch it but puts a bowl over it. When her son comes home he puts it outside! I'm just picturing this scene and the Birds movie comes to mind! Wait it gets even better.....her daughter and our niece graduates from HS this weekend. And her Grad Party is this Sunday. Lots of people invited, both sides of the family. They have a lovely patio that is nice to sit out at for parties. (I love her back yard). Not this year! This party should be interesting. I think she'll start drinking early that day. LOL
I'm really not a mean person but I found this story quite funny. Because my sister-in-law tends to be judgemental and quick to comment on other people's behavior. And now the shoe's on the other foot!
I'll let you know how the party goes....
Mary
I'm really not a mean person but I found this story quite funny. Because my sister-in-law tends to be judgemental and quick to comment on other people's behavior. And now the shoe's on the other foot!
I'll let you know how the party goes....
Mary
0 likes
For anyone wanting to see some very funny cicada pictures taken from all across the Cincinnati area, click on this link:
http://www.cincinnati.com/freetime/cicadas/
Then under the little girl's picture with a cicada on her nose, click on Reader's Photos! There are at least 50, I lost count. Some in people's mouths, some on a baby. Some lounging on a kickboard in a pool. I cracked up at many of these pictures. There's one of two cicadas 'doing it' - now I know we have a family friendly site here, but this is nature at it's very best too! Trouble was they were backwards in this photo but what do I know, maybe that's how it's done? he he
We could hear them singing loudly during dinner last night. And we discussed the whole cicada craze here (people are going nuts over these things!). We all LOL when hubby said - they come out every 17 years for Sex! Then it's SPLAT on a windshield. What a short life. Sex and Splat!
Enjoy!
Mary
http://www.cincinnati.com/freetime/cicadas/
Then under the little girl's picture with a cicada on her nose, click on Reader's Photos! There are at least 50, I lost count. Some in people's mouths, some on a baby. Some lounging on a kickboard in a pool. I cracked up at many of these pictures. There's one of two cicadas 'doing it' - now I know we have a family friendly site here, but this is nature at it's very best too! Trouble was they were backwards in this photo but what do I know, maybe that's how it's done? he he
We could hear them singing loudly during dinner last night. And we discussed the whole cicada craze here (people are going nuts over these things!). We all LOL when hubby said - they come out every 17 years for Sex! Then it's SPLAT on a windshield. What a short life. Sex and Splat!
Enjoy!
Mary
0 likes
- Skywatch_NC
- Category 5
- Posts: 10949
- Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2003 9:31 pm
- Location: Raleigh, NC
- Contact:
You beat me to it, Mary! LOL I read an article about the cicadas in the recent issue of TIME May 24 and posted a topic over at Off-Topic about them today.
Having lived in Cincinnati and Hamilton I recollect about those noisy but interesting buggers!!
Eric
PS: Shows how much I get over to the Community Forum! lol
http://i.timeinc.net/time/daily/2004/04 ... ap0524.jpg
http://www.cicadamania.org/



Eric

PS: Shows how much I get over to the Community Forum! lol

http://i.timeinc.net/time/daily/2004/04 ... ap0524.jpg
http://www.cicadamania.org/
0 likes
Annette - my youngest who's a tomboy also, has been catching them all week. She even made one a 'pet' for a few hours. She felt sorry for it since one wing was missing. We talked her into letting it go finally. Poor thing. I have to say cicadas are not the brightest species out there. You'll be walking by and see one flat on it's back, legs going crazy up in the air. We put it back on it's feet and then it just sits there - now what do I do? Oh yeah, eat and have sex. LOL They're terrible at navigating. Maybe that's b/c they have sex on their tiny brains?
We should do something, marketing wise, to cash in on this invasion!
Update on the grad party last week - no juicy stories to share. It rained! So for most of the party, everyone was inside. I heard them outside buzzing away. But the sound was the same as at my house. Jim's sister went into detail with everyone how cicadas are getting into her house all the time and she's completely freaked out by them. Funny, not one cicada came in the house during the party? And it wasn't a dull party either. LOL
Mary

We should do something, marketing wise, to cash in on this invasion!
Update on the grad party last week - no juicy stories to share. It rained! So for most of the party, everyone was inside. I heard them outside buzzing away. But the sound was the same as at my house. Jim's sister went into detail with everyone how cicadas are getting into her house all the time and she's completely freaked out by them. Funny, not one cicada came in the house during the party? And it wasn't a dull party either. LOL
Mary
0 likes
Annette - the next door neighbors aren't flipping out either! Their daughter is a girly-girl though, age 10. Laura says she hates the cicadas. But the mom, who I thought would freak, isn't bothered by them at all. So I have a sister-in-law who's freaking out, didn't see that one coming, and neighbors who I thought would blast their yard with every chemical known to mankind, and aren't complaining. Go figure that one out!
I did lots of yardwork today, pulling many, many weeds (ankle is finally healing enough to get back to weeding) and cicadas were all around me. Some dead, some alive. They honestly don't bug me, pun intended!
And my dog isn't even eating them!
Funny how this all worked out.
Mary
I did lots of yardwork today, pulling many, many weeds (ankle is finally healing enough to get back to weeding) and cicadas were all around me. Some dead, some alive. They honestly don't bug me, pun intended!
And my dog isn't even eating them!
Funny how this all worked out.
Mary
0 likes
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests