365 HOWLS #47: 'Food of the Gods'

365 HOWLS #47: 'Food of the Gods'4-31-2013bret harold hartgear:DR85 recorderTascam mixdown deckLast night, Tina and I enjoyed participating in a writing & grilled chicken party at our friends the Ormond's home. I ate in a screened room and was told about the noisy cicadas that have been raising a clamor there in the mornings. Today, in the morning before work, I stopped at a number of places around town to gather recordings of North Carolina's noisy tree-orchestras. This is a mix of those ambient recordings of insects that only sing like this every 17 years or so. Cicadas seem to prefer to make their burrows in places that are not ever mowed, and have a wide range of sounds and rhythms that can be discerned in their communication.There is a science-fiction novel, Food of the Gods by HG Wells (http://www.palomar.edu/english/versaci/images/Food%20of%20the%20Gods.jpg), that has giant insects (and other critters) in it. In the Old Testament, cicadas were called 'locusts' and were a periodic environmental scourge. In many parts of the world, insects are considered a source of protein for people.