Kamikaze Cicadas Signal Change

Yesterday afternoon the babe and I were out for a walk and there was a noticeable change in the air. It was cooler, less humid, and things just seemed a bit crisper. Just as I was noticing this and enjoying the fact that my clothing was not sticking to me the moment that I stepped out of our front door (a perpetual byproduct of the humidity here), a small humming object came dive bombing towards my head. I ducked and swerved instinctively as the object turned and came hurtling towards me once more. Whaaaa!!! I quickly ascertained that my assailant was a cicada. Strange–I had never heard of kamikaze cicadas before. With some quick maneuvering I was able to escape a third attack and the babe and I enjoyed the rest of our walk without interruption. Then, last night I was walking to work and the same scenario repeated itself, except for this time I was wearing a skirt and 3 inch heels. What was going on? I looked around me and noticed that this time there was a handful of cicadas acting in the same odd manner. As I watched a little more closely I realized that the cicadas were dying. They were not kamikaze cicadas bent on attack, they were in fact doing the dance of death, taking one last flight before they could fly no more. “Aaah!” I thought, “That signals the beginning of the end of the maddening whine of the cicada song.” I also realized that it means that summer is on its way out and fall will soon replace it.

This morning, with these thoughts running through my mind, I went to mix up a bottle for the babe and realized there was only enough powder left in the can for one last bottle. This thought made me sad. No, empty cans of formula don’t usually cause sadness (unless you count the sadness one may feel at the thought of having to shell out the money to buy another one), however the emptying of this can almost perfectly coincides with the babe turning 9 months old. The formula she has been drinking, Hai Hai (はいはい), is only for 0 – 9 months. From 9 months on you use Gun Gun (ぐんぐん). This change in formula means she is growing up. It is hard to believe that I have a nine-month old baby (as of Sunday). It is even harder to believe that I have been a mother for nine months. So much has changed in such a short time. I will miss so many things about my little girl being a baby, yet the changes that seem to be taking place every day are so much fun. It is fun to watch her grow into her own little person.