in the summer of 2004 i was living in san jose, costa rica, far from cicadas. there they have much different insect problems. take the 3 inch long roaches living happily in my kitchen for example. gross. i spent a good part of my childhood in michigan so i missed them the last time too (my mom tells me the ground is too cold for cicadas there). so i have never experienced this particular cruel trick of nature.
all my friends could tell me was "six weeks of cicadas" and "you just crunch them with every step" and "use an umbrella." ok. are you kidding me. we have pesticides that can kill small children, yet there is nothing we can do to prevent this?
seriously, may is like the best month. am i supposed to spend it locked up in my house? i am assuming swarms of giant bugs are going to make things like dinner al fresco and walks in the park and picnics pretty much impossible.
i just now googled and found this article in the enquirer. i am scared:
ok, what the hell! this is like something out of the bible or something. not that i have read it, but i am pretty sure there are tons of floods and plagues and infestations and shit like that in there. it's 2008 in a major metropolitan area. i do not understand how this can be happening!Right now the baby bugs are about 4 inches below the earth's surface, waiting for the warm-up.
They'll burrow up through gardens, lawns, fields and forests, creating a loud, creepy-crawly blanket on trees, houses, patio furniture and just about every other stationary object for four to six weeks.
in other news, book club met up for dinner tonight at nada. (the book was water for elephants by sara gruen). i wrote about it a few months ago here. i enjoyed the food more this time (i tried the guacamole, the ceviche, the pork/salsa verde cazuela, and drank a passionfruit caipirinha... all very tasty). in addition, i really enjoyed the excellent service, especially after all this jean robert nonsense. liberal foodie was there too and promised to blog about the meal, so i will just leave that up to her.
one thing i do want to say is that i think they have adjusted portion sizes a little (for example, you now get 3 tacos for around $13-15, instead of 2 for $7-9, which is more expensive but also a better meal size). i know that overall the price per taco has gone up, but i still like that you can now make a meal of it and not have to order something else. you are paying for the atmosphere and the service here, but at least you get what you pay for.
they haven't furnished or opened their patio yet, which is sad, but maybe that is a good thing... nobody is going to eat out there if the place is swarming in giant insects. disgusting.
9 comments:
Ok, the cicadas are really not that bad. I just found out they are coming back. There are actually two different groups of cicadas and they are four years apart. I remember them coming my freshman year of high school, 1991, and they were much worse where I lived (Blue Ash) than they had been 4 years earlier. So I think the ones that came in 2004 were worse in central/west, and these are worse in the east, but it's not like they swarm at you or anything. And they'll be gone by July 4th.
Definitely sounds like we are being punished for something when things like cicadas come around! Maybe for these God awful gas prices!!! $45 this morning for my little car.
I bought my hubby 3 giftcards for his birthday yesterday to downtown restaurants. I got him Via Vite, Nada, and Jean-Robert group. I can't wait to go back to Nada! We have only been once but it was great. Now if they would just put those sweet potato fries on the dinner menu, that would make me VERY happy.
re: cicadas, that is good to know. i heard about this and was about to crap myself. i guess it will be a good story anyway...
re: nada, i liked it the first time, but was not 100% sold. this time i loved it. i think they have really hit their groove. good choices re: gift certificates! i love via vite too, it's such a fun place to hang out.
I KNEW you were going to blog about the cicadas today!
Cicadas are gross. We had them here about 5-6 years ago. The newspaper referred to that year's batch as "Brood X"--way to make them sound even creepier.
They are disgusting. And loud.
Cicadas are a bit like drunken frat boys - constantly on the move and knocking into things in their quest for nookie.
I had a five-month-old puppy when the cicadas were around last time. You can imagine the JOY and DELIGHT in cleaning up a cicada binge. Ugh. The good news-- 2004 was on the west/central side(s) of town, 2008 will be on the east side. Of course, I now spend a lot of time on the East side, I guess I get the double-whammy.
Veggie Option is right, but they are still totally disgusting. They don't hurt you or anything, it's just that they look like creatures that haven't evolved....like tiny aliens. Millions of them. Their only redeeming quality is that they are high in protein, which is why they are referred to as "nature's feast"...whenever they come back, every type of animal gets its fill.
However, they make me scream like a small child. Have I ever told you the story about how George Clooney's mom saved me from a cicada in 2004? Remind me next time I talk to you....
They taste good. Try boiling them next time for a few seconds right after they hatch and are still white (that's when they are best), or after a flash boil, cover them in chocolate and freeze them. Delicious. They have a very nutty flavor. Trust me, it's very good.
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