Today is the day that the cicadas come to play...

photo supplied by corbis images

and I am afraid! Very, very afraid! Apparently, nature has conspired that today is the day those noisy little creatures emerge from the ground due to perfect weather conditions, etc. Those that know me well know that I DO NOT like bugs. My mom always tells the story of how once when I was a wee girl, I started screaming bloody murder. She came running, thinking I had hurt myself in some way. Instead, the itsy-bitsy spider was crawling in the bathtub. A really teeny, tiny one. And I wasn't even in the tub with it. She has never let me live it down since.

I hate all creepy-crawlie type things. I truly believe this is why I was blessed with girls (not that girls don't play with those things too, but they are less inclined to bring them home.) As a matter of fact, both of my girls are terrified of bugs too. Not sure if this a nature vs. nurture thing, but still, good to know no one is going to try to terrorize me in my own home with worms or bugs or other generally icky things.

As a matter of fact, I chaperoned A's field trip to the Nature Center last week. The kids kept looking for bugs to put into their little magnifying boxes to check out. One little girl (see!) found the most fattest, most juiciest, most disgusting looking worm ever. She picked it up tried to stuff it into her box. The worm valiantly tried to escape, and I shamefully admit, I emitted a few loud shrieks along with some of the other more squeamish kids. All I could think of was that she was going to end up chopping that worm in two when she tried to put the cover on. Ewwww! Yuck. I get chills thinking about it.

So for the next few weeks when all anticipated 7 BILLION cicadas descend on Northern Illinois, I'll be cowering in my apartment with the music turned up REALLY LOUD and all the blinds closed, my children gathered close by my side.