As June wanes, so do the much vaunted 17 year locusts that have provided their signature drone throughout the countryside for the better part of two months.

They’ve been relatively toned down as compared to ages past. I seem to recall times , especially in heavy woods, when they were so thick that a shovel was near necessary to clear them out of the way. To boot, their chant was near deafening and whole trees defoliated in record time.

Presumably this was what Moses warned the Pharaoh about in Exodus 10: 1-20, but I’m not the final word on that. I just know that these beady-eyed buggers have had their way with the land for a while, then they’ll go sleep it off for another 17 years, then hatch another batch.

Who else does that ? And by what quizzical mechanism? Think about it ! They kak out for 17 years then on the same damned morning of the same year, of the same month of the same week of the same day, quite suddenly, the woods are crawling with the things. If that isn’t divinely inspired, then what is ?

On a separate, but related matter, who first conceptualized the notion of eating these things ? I heard someone talking about it last night. Imagine! The new Captain Crunch. The breakfast of of champions. The new brand? LOCUTION. With milk and sugar, of course.