What’s Eating Aunt Debbie?

I’m starting something new; perhaps not a weekly thing because there’s not always something eating at me, but bi-monthly sounds good to me. I’m sure I can come up with something new each time. It’s not as though I’m new to complaining! I snagged the title from one of my favorite movies, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? If you haven’t seen it, you should.

Today, being Monday and all, sounds like a great time to start What’s Eating Aunt Debbie?

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1. People are in an uproar over musicians and/or actors speaking up for a cause or voicing their political opinions. They seem to think because they are actors and/or musicians that they don’t have the right to speak up/out. I have read comments like, “Just do your job and shut the fuck up,” or “Who cares what you think?” Well, don’t they have just as much right to speak their minds as any lawyer, garbage man, postal worker, doctor, computer tech, etc.? Maybe everyone should just shut the fuck up and do their own jobs, then? Come on. It really gripes me when anyone is put down for having an opinion. That opinion doesn’t have to be the same as yours or mine. We’re all different. And the way I see it is, if a public figure (actor, musician, etc.) can actually speak out and help solve the problems of this world, then fucking let them.

2. Racism really sticks in my crawl. We are all the same inside. Our blood is red, our bones are the same. We all have the same dreams, the same problems, the same feelings about family and friends. There is no reason to use brutal force on a man who is handcuffed and on his belly on the ground. There’s no reason to put a knee on the back of a man’s neck, ultimately causing his death. There have been so damn many cases of unnecessary brutal force by police officers but still, the problem continues. I know that the majority of police officers are good but the bad ones are fucking things up for the rest. What the hell is wrong with people? I have to admit that several years ago when the Black Lives Matter movement began, I was one to say “All Lives Matter” and I regret that because I wasn’t getting the big picture. Then I read something that changed my mindset. “ALL LIVES WON’T MATTER UNTIL BLACK LIVES MATTER.” That has stuck with me ever since. I’m so sick and tired of people being mistreated or killed because of their skin color. If you’re a racist, then educate yourself OR kindly unfollow my blog and all of my social media accounts. I want nothing to do with you. (And that has nothing to do with a ‘difference of opinion’ but everything to do with racism and hatefulness.) Below is a graphic I made for my Facebook profile. You are free to use it if you like. Just save to your device like you would anything else.

3. I’m curious, folks. How many blogs do you follow and do you actually read them all? I feel guilty when I can’t read one of the blogs I follow. I try to follow only those I know I can read regularly, but sometimes I miss a post (or a few). Just know that if I follow your blog I will do my best to read your new posts as they are published.

4. On the subject of blogs, I have redesigned mine. Nothing spectacular but I wanted to switch things up a bit. If you’re reading this from the WordPress reader, you can click here to check out the new look and tell me what you think. I wish I could change text colors and I’m having trouble getting certain widgets to work, but I’ll figure it out eventually. Hahaha.

5. My computer is pushing its luck since yesterday. I think it wants to be pitched out of an open window or dropped from a high cliff. It’s responding slowly, sometimes taking 2 clicks to get it to recognize that I want it to do something. Usually when I have this type of problem, it’s done being fussy in a couple of days. I always think, maybe it’s doing updates. I check but there’s never any indication of that. I always run a scan to check for viruses, malware, etc., but PC Matic finds nothing. It does a great job at finding and removing crap that could really cause a problem. I am thankful for that. I suppose I just need a new desktop computer. I could use the laptop but it drives me bonkers, too. Maybe tomorrow the pc will be back to normal. Maybe it’s menopausal, like me.

6. Hot weather is creeping in. It was nearly 100 degrees the last 2 days! What gripes me is that every stinkin’ bug known to man always seems to find its way to my bedroom. I must spend 20 minutes before bed just smacking flies and spiders, scooping up beetles and throwing them out for the cats to play with, and damn near killing myself trying to capture crickets! If they would just stop jumping! I’m just thankful I don’t have a Praying Mantis problem!! Those things give me the heebie-jeebies!

Photo by Brandon Phan on Pexels.com

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Well, there you have it. That’s What’s Eating Aunt Debbie! What’s eating you these days?

Throwback Thursday – The Cicadas

When we first moved to Missouri, we stayed with my sister and her husband in Illinois for 3 weeks while our house was being readied for move-in. I had never been to this state before, or to Missouri for that matter, so I wasn’t familiar with certain things.

Cicadas were one of those things. I didn’t know anything about cicadas, having been born and raised in good ol’ sunny California. I had seen katydids before but never heard of a cicada. I’ve learned a little since being in “these parts” and now the cicada is just a noisy nuisance.

Annual cicadas are green with bulging black eyes and show up every year but periodical cicadas are orange or brown with red eyes and they show up in swarms. They have very long development cycles and only emerge from the ground when their cycle comes; either 13-years or 17-years. They make a horrendously loud sound and if you want to scare the heck out of a little kid just get close with one of those screaming things!

Cicadas are a great food source for wildlife and they don’t bite. They are not harmful to the environment, unlike locusts.  People often confuse the two but locusts are a type of grasshopper while the cicada is the cousin of the cricket.

Now, I have a silly story for you, followed by a couple of videos for informational purposes.

One evening, I was standing at the back door of my sister’s farmhouse. I heard this awful sound and it seemed like it was coming from the power pole just at the edge of the yard. I thought there must be a problem with the power line or something. It was extremely loud and sounded like a vibrating buzz…what electricity might sound like, if that makes sense… I told my brother-in-law, “Mike, I think there’s a problem with your power line.” He put his arm around me and said, “Debbie, those are cicadas.” He grinned from ear to ear! When he told me it was a bug I thought he was screwing with me. I mean, how the hell can a little insect make a noise like that? He was serious and I felt so stupid!

Don’t laugh too hard at my ignorance! If you don’t know something how can you know it, right?! Check out the videos below!

Here in the first video, if you start at around 1:54 you’ll get a good idea of the individual sound. You may think, oh that’s no big deal but these insects are extremely loud, especially when they are in swarms!

This video below shows the cicada from the time they emerge from the ground to the end of their life cycle. Very interesting but rather creepy!

So, while you may have had a good laugh at my expense, maybe you also learned something from the videos! How’d you like those red eyes?