vastateofmind

Maybe it was the combination of my power washing as well, which I FINALLY finished at 7 p.m. Saturday night. Can finally cross that annual though despised task off for another year...

Yeah, it was odd, as there was only like a 20% chance of "scattered showers" forecasted, but skies grew pretty dark to our north around that time, and even here in NoVA I heard a rumble of thunder or two with just a few sprinkles. Radar definitely looked more vigorous up your way and in southern PA.

Funny that you mention this. I believe you and I mentioned the heavy occurrence of spinners on maples this year, several times -- the maple isn't mine, it's my neighbor's, however it behaved exactly as you described here AND with the bulk of the spinners finally off/down, I noticed that some of the topmost branches weren't leafing out. In fact, I wondered if those branches had died, but I've just noticed over the past few days that they were just behind in leafing out with the rest of the tree. In 20 years of living with that damn PITA maple tree (my neighbor misses most of the mess from HIS tree, as it hangs mostly over MY backyard), I've never seen the spinners this heavy.

Wowzers! Beautiful pool! Even more beautiful slices of meat!! I'm excited, as I spent 4-5 hours power washing two backyard patios today, and I'm DONE for another year.

They grossed me out 17 some years ago...I never killed any but avoided them like Randy did/does. And yeah, I've let FIVE crawl all over my hands today. They're basically a ladybug....with pterodactyl-sized wings and blood-curdling giant red eyes. Actually, the ones I held today were perfectly content to hang out on my fingers or hand...my previous experience with cicadas is that they fled us giant beings with great effort. They're humorously clumsy.

TY....that is a damn cute puppers.

Post another pic of your pup again at the brewery, somewhere on one of these threads...so friggin' cute.

FIFY. I have been (with only 2), and know you have been, too. OMG. I had to go out and reprimand my own yellow Lab this afternoon for circling the big-ass oak tree and slurping up God knows how many dozens of cicada nymphs and adults for 30 minutes straight. She's such a hog. The first night she discovered them around the tree (about 4-5 days ago), she gorged herself and (to @Kmlwx's point several weeks ago), promptly emptied the contents of her stomach because of it. Thought I'd have to get out the Elizabethan dog collar, but she's listened to me the rest of the afternoon. Until tomorrow.

@WinterWxLuvr posted a meme a page or two back, purportedly of someone selling "bags" of gasoline out of the trunk of their car. I seriously almost blew my coffee over my keyboard when I saw that one.

The first 20 feet of trunk on my backyard oak up to the first big branches -- where I captured my posted pics/video earlier this week -- were thick with nymphs and emerging adults last evening just after dark, too many to count. That whole side of the yard (the oak is in the back corner of my property) was rustling with countless nymphs making a beeline for the oak, the fences, the shed, anywhere they could get at least some elevation. I even saw a handful of oh-eff-it nymphs starting their molts at the top of some tall dandelion stems. If you got down low to look across the grass, you could see it "moving" in spots...eerie. I'm thinking we might actually start hearing these guys next week? Oh, and just for you, @gunny23 & @mattie g -- let's just say I'm going to be a little more careful about walking under my backyard oak in another week or so. (In fairness, this video is of cicada Chremistica umbrosa of South-East Asia...our Brood X periodic cicadas apparently aren't this incontinent.)

Okay, these are some GREAT chasing pics and video....I especially liked the inflow video, where the dust movement allowed you to actually SEE it! Please keep 'em coming, these are awesome!!

Currently 44 IMBY, with heat running full blast inside. Third morning in a row I've slid into the fleece long bottoms...UGH.

LOL....it's not just you.

Yeah, @WxWatcher007 -- go to "HAIL!"

Checked the big backyard oak last hour....a lot of those nymphs I filmed molting over the past two days unfortunately seemed to have only made it only partially through their transformation. I've lost count of how many mature cicadas I just saw hanging out on the tree trunk with mangled, malformed, half-shriveled or not-even-unfurled wings. I wonder if the cooler weather overnight might have interfered with the complete "drying out" of the wings on the newly-emerged cicadas?

YUMMO! Cuke/Mater/Feta salad is one of my summertime favorites...so easy, and it tastes sort of refreshing after a hot day.

How's everything looking so far, at least what you've already got planted? Mid-40s for a number of nights in a row hasn't done any damage, has it? We got down to 47 last night, enough to kick on the heat this morning. I'm not looking for 90s and humidity yet, but please oh please, can we just have nighttime lows above 50-ish....

Meanwhile....it's currently 48 with yet another overcast morning. Hoping the sun makes its forecasted appearance this afternoon.

Very cool. He's a great beer connoisseur to have on staff, if that counts for something in your workplace. Good luck to you today, @Baltimorewx!

Just captured a short while ago after sunset on the big backyard oak -- there's a whole lotta moltin' going on.

The album of videos I posted here yesterday was apparently a preview of today's big show. Just went out under the giant oak IMBY where I shot those videos, and the ground immediately around, and about 4 feet out from the trunk was almost boiling with nymphs hauling ass for the tree trunk -- at least 10x as many as I saw yesterday. This fascinates me, as I missed most of this the last time Brood X made a visit! I did my part to save 15-20 of the nymphs at least a little travel time, by lifting them up from ground level to about 6 feet up the tree trunk, the level of the tree they seem to best love to start their molts. I'm guessing I shaved about 30-40 minutes off the trip for that small group...but there were sooooo many more. Felt like I should do that to give them a fighting chance, as there was a small group of crows hanging out around that tree this morning, gorging themselves on the cicada buffet. I'm sure they'll be back tomorrow morning...and many mornings to come.

Went to record the insane Labrador retriever during a spirited bout of "tug" last evening, but instead of hitting the regular record mode I accidentally selected slow-mo....hence this. The slowed-down audio of her growling and tags rattling makes it sound like you're standing in a torture chamber.

#PREACH Ended up buying a six-pack of that late Saturday, after trying one in the make-your-own-six-pack at Wegmans on Friday. It IS that good.

Getting real busy out there IMBY... https://photos.app.goo.gl/BFka7yr5uxfr9m84A