Weird and wonderful

Dear Noah,

Summertime in Louisiana is full of bugs and some of the biggest and noisiest are the cicadas.  They start buzzing in late morning and don't turn it off until the sun goes down.  Sometimes they're so noisy you can hardly hear yourself talk!  They're pretty interesting insects.  The adults lay the egg in the ground and the eggs hatch and larvae grow underground.  When it's time, they make their way to the surface and climb up on something...like a tree or a bush or even a house.  Then the cicada sheds it
s larva shell by splitting it down the back and emerging.  Its wings have to dry before it can fly.  This is a big bug -- bigger than your dad's thumb!  We only occasionally see them here -- they mostly stay high in the trees.  But today I saw a dead one and then I found the shell and that made me think of the time I put the shell on your shirt.  So I thought I'd show you some pictures of this weird and wonderful bug.

Kind of creepy and cool, huh?

love, 

Nanny