The sounds of summer are dying

I know that summer is here when I start to hear the sound of cicadas, semi in Japanese. These little buggers are loud! If you are anywhere near trees or something they can hang out on, you are treated to the screeching of these annoying bugs. There are several different types of these guys who sound different and are active at different times of day. I forgot to mention how massive these guys are. It’s really no wonder they are so loud, I mean look at that thing!

This one is obviously dead

Did I mention that my island is vastly made up of forest? There is simply no escaping them. Until fall. Then they start to die and things get a bit quieter. A few weeks ago I started to see a few dead cicadas about and knew that the oppressive heat of summer would soon end and the cool breezes of autumn would find us at last.
It’s not bad enough that we have to hear them in person though. These guys are so closely associated with summer that our grocery store was playing a CD of their screaming to make people feel more in the summer mood. Also, any TV drama or movie or anime or video game that is set in the summer will clue you in to this fact with this sound in the background. So even once they’ve all died off I’ll still be hearing them.  And honestly, when it is quiet and this is all you hear it can get a little creepy...