17 is a Prime Number
Brood X’s buzzing has diminished. It’s not as loud as it was two weeks ago. I recorded them in the park out back and their cacophony reached 95 decibels, but today, they’re not as loud or as voluminous as at the height of their swarm. The noise app on the Apple watch was in the yellow. Don’t walk too long in that volume as it is dangerous to your hearing.
Brood X is the cicadas that come out every 17 years along the east coast of the US. This is the third time I’ve witnessed them. I wonder if I will witness them come out again. We shall see.
They will be gone in another couple weeks. The adults who have succeeded in propagating their offspring for the next time will all be dead. The larvae will have buried into the ground waiting for that glorious summer 17 years from now to do what they’ve been doing for so long. It is the cycle of life.
