A memory from 9 years ago popped up on my Facebook feed today that made me laugh! I always have the oddest and funniest dreams! I don’t even remember this one but that’s what’s great about Facebook Memories!
Way back in 2010, when my daughter was still living at home, we stopped in at a McDonald’s. We were standing in line looking over the menu. My daughter turns to me and asks, “What’s in a Big Mac?” Of course I replied, “Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, on a sesame seed bun!”
Oh, the things I remember from years gone by….and I can’t even remember why the hell I walked into the kitchen!
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?
Last year, I told the story of a true to life Leroy Brown in my family. You can read about him here: Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
Let me know what you think! Is there someone in your family with the name of a celebrity or song character? Do tell!
I’m always finding the funniest and most amusing memes, jokes, and other misc. things on Facebook. This little diddy, for example. I got to reading the comments and was blown away by some hilarious stories!! It brought back a funny story of my own. Continue below.
When my son was about 3 years old he was a handful. He spoke better than my daughter did at that age because she had problems with ear infections and just didn’t hear things correctly to be able to repeat them correctly. My son looked up to her and repeated words that she said incorrectly, such as pupcake (cupcake), pupboard (cupboard), wunny wun (another one), and a few others.
My son being MY son, came up with a few of his own. He spoke well, but there were a few things that just slipped him up.
For example, at the babysitter’s house, he kept saying what the sitter thought was the word ‘fuck’. When she told me about it, I asked her what was going on at the time. She said they (her son and mine) were playing with little animals. I asked, “Was one of those little animals a frog?” She said it all made sense after that because the two boys had a bit of an argument over the frog. So ‘frog’ it was. Thank goodness!
Now, this next story was a little embarrassing for me at the time. (If it were to happen now, I’d think nothing of it…because I’m just too old to give a rat’s ass now. Ha!) We used to live across the street from a big park when we lived in California. The kids’ aunt worked the concession stand during ball games and I used to take the kids over to say hello. Of course, my ex didn’t participate like with everything else I planned, but that’s a whole different ball game.
Anyway, the kids and I went across the street and saw Aunt Joan. While we were there, a fire engine raced by with the sirens screeching and the horns blaring! My son always got so excited when he saw fire trucks but this was the first time one had been in his presence making so much noise! He started screaming and pointing! Remember now, we are at the park during a ballgame and people were everywhere! My son started screaming at the top of his lungs for all to hear, “Fucka! Fucka! Fucka!” It seemed that every head turned and looked at my boy who was so damn happy to have seen this rare sight, and then all their eyes were on me. I thought to myself, surely they understand what has just happened and that he must’ve been saying fire truck! Apparently not. I started yelling at them, “He said FIRETRUCK! FIRETRUCK!” It wasn’t too funny at the time, but afterward…and even now.
Isn’t it funny how kids can say things so wrong and create such great memories and laughter? I bet you have a few great stories to tell about your kids, too! I’d love to hear them!
Being Aunt Debbie 