Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Summer

Ya know what I love about summer? The song that crickets sing at night.

Yahoo answers explains:

A male cricket has a heavy vein with a row of teeth on the underside at the front of each wing. The top of one wing was used as a scraper against the underside of the other wing, like a fingernail drawn along the teeth of a comb. This performance occurs with both wings elevated so that the wing membranes can act as sounding boards. The pitch of the chirps is slightly higher than the highest octave on a piano. Air temperature influences chirping rates; the warmer the night, the faster they chirp. There are special songs for courtship, fighting, and sounding an alarm.

What do you love about summer?

17 comments:

  1. I absolutely love the singing of crickets. When I lived in NC, there was an amazing orchestra of insects during summer nights, one that I have yet to hear again.;)
    I also like the sound of cicadas during the day, that is very exotic to me as they do not exist this far up north.

    But what I absolutely love about the summers here are the white nights and the beach.;))

    Hope yours is going to be wonderful!
    xo

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  2. I can relate to the sound of the cricket too. The katydids singing in the trees also are a treat. I love the unexpected cool days of summer that make you think it might not be too long until fall. They are such a relief after a long hot spell. Color in the garden is so exciting and joyful.

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  3. lightning bugs
    iced tea, unsweetened with lemon
    porch swings and a good book
    gardens
    the smell of new mown grass
    the smell of grilling meet
    barefoot
    the sound of the wind through leafy branches
    perseid showers
    showers at the end of a long hot day

    Oh. I must get ready for work...

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  4. What an amazing photo!!

    Along the same lines as the cricket song we have frogs at our creek at The Glen...in the evenings they make the most amazing "galloops" and "croaks!" I had never heard such a thing until we moved here over a year ago!

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  5. Hi! I enjoyed your post on B'ham history. I'm going to be doing a post soon on the Alabama Theater. We went to the recent open house & that was my first time in there. Loved it! I grew up in ATL, so only been in B'ham less than 4 years, but love it.

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  6. There isn't much I don't like about summer - other than biting/stinging bugs.

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  7. I've never seen a green cricket before! I'd have to say lightning bugs are wonderful to me! :)

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  8. I love that it stays light longer and I love snuggling under the sheets vs the comforter ..

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  9. I love the sound of crickets and I'm pleased to know exactly how they create that sound. Thanks, Stevie!

    Kat

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  10. I adore the comforting chirp of crickets on a summer evening. It has such a nostalgic, comforting quality. It tells me everything will always be just as it is.

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  11. I love that as well as box fans and fire flies

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  12. Monarch butterflies, hummingbirds visiting the zinnias, music beneath the stars.

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  13. We don't hear the crickets till late summer, for some unknown (by me) reason...

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  14. Beautifully put, Protege..."an amazing orchestra of insects.."

    Lisa, we don't have "cool days of summer that make you think of autumn" very often, but I do love colorful flowers.

    Debby....yes, yes...the smell of new mown grass, going barefoot and porch swings....

    Jill, one of my son's used to live close to a pond and the frog sounds at night were amazing.

    Rhonda, I love the Alabama. I was so disappointed that I wasn't able to attend the open house they hosted around Christmas. I would love to go on a guided tour. Thanks for your compliment.

    Hilary...mosquitoes...yuck/ouchie/send in the bug spray!

    Betsy, I loved catching lightening bugs when I was a kid. Have you ever seen the children's book about Sam the lightening bug?

    Daryl, crisp clean summery sunshine smelling sheets straight off the clothes line...boy it must have been more than 20 year since I slept on line dried sheets.

    Kat, I've always wondered why myself. Have you ever noticed how the sound is really loud when it needs to rain? The cricket rain hymn.

    Willow, the sound takes me right back to every summer of my life. My DIL commented how she didn't realize that the sound was missing in their part of TX until she heard the song when they were here last week.

    Char...box fans!

    Joanne, I keep an old-fashioned advertisement type fan on my desk at work that was given out at an outdoor symphony in the park a couple of summers ago. It reminds of "music beneath the stars."

    Lavinia, come down Alabama way. We can treat you to all the cricket music you desire as early as June 1st...maybe sooner if it's really hot.

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  15. birds singing and watering my flower gardens make summer for me.

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  16. What do I love about summer? In one word, ALL everything as long as its summer, my #1 season. In more words, parties, great colors, shining faces, people dynamism, light dresses, mini skirts, bbq, and driving with the sunroof open mercedes, and counting stars in dark blue nights when cruising:) Oooh too romantic moments.

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  17. I love the smell of rain as it hits a hot pavement and fresh veggies growing in my garden and taking evening walks while there is still light!

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I'm glad you stopped by and I look forward to your comments. As Dr. Fraser Crane would say, "Hello, I'm listening."