Summer Noise

I woke up yesterday morning to an awful noise. I thought the bike shop across the street was working on a particularly injured moped. "Is the shop even open yet? Did I sleep so long?"

Going to the screen door, I saw nothing unusual, and the noise was not coming from the bike shop. It was coming from a nearby tree. Finally my brain woke up enough to realise: it must be cicadas!

At home I love late summer for the cicada song. In Tokyo I never heard cicadas, and was bummed both summers I lived there. In Tokushima, though, it is different.  The cicadas have a different pitch, a different rhythm. It’s not the enjoyable hum I love.

Who knew there are different kinds of cicadas, each with their own song?

This morning, they did not wake me up. Maybe I’ll get used to the new song.