The Barry Manilows of insects are loud this year as Brood X emerges in my neck of the woods. We live in an ideal area for them, with loads of established landscaping that hasn’t been touched in far more than the 17 years they’ve been under ground.
Near the street, they’re quieter, but the backyard is an astounding susurrus of song. I find it rather pleasant, far more low key than the cicadas we hear most summers, that produce that grating high-pitched cacophony. Their shells are everywhere, too, a strange detritus of chitin clinging from every plant and tree trunk in sight.
We’ve been calling them “the aliens”.
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is a quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” — Mary Anne Radmacher
It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer. – Albert Einstein
I hate the Kindle… It is an attempt to erase 600 years of progress. A printed book is a random access device, a Kindle is not. - Errol Morris
“I knew I was the only poor person at my tech startup because I never got over not having to punch a clock.”
Reiki Can’t Possibly Work. So Why Does It?
“When Jamie introduced Reiki at the VA center 10 years ago, she overrode the objections of some colleagues who thought it was pseudoscience and out of step with the general culture of the VA, where people are inclined to be suspicious of anything that might be described as “woo woo.” But she insisted that the VA—which also offers yoga, acupuncture, massage, clinical hypnosis, and tai chi—should explore any supplementary treatment for chronic pain and PTSD that doesn’t involve pharmaceuticals, especially narcotics.”