Georgia back road honeysuckle
Southwest Texas big belt buckle
West Virginia home-made whiskey
Send it on up to St. Paul City
Then float it back down the Mississippi
Doesn’t matter where you are
It’s the same old stripes, the same old stars
Same old highways cuttin’ across
Same old moon turnin’ on and off
Cammed up Chevy at a traffic light
With a pretty girl on a Saturday night
And Willie Nelson singin’ “On the road again”
Lookin’ around it’s good to see
Everybody out there keepin’ it country
-Jake Owen
Tuesday 4 June 2024
I almost forgot the cicada plague that is spreading across Chicago and elsewhere in the Midwest as they weren’t an issue up in Detroit. However, it only took a few seconds upon stepping out of the car at Herrick Lake preserve this afternoon to remind me how bad they are.
We, of course, have cicadas back home, but not nearly as many. They are literally everywhere. All over the ground. They fly into you, buzz around you, wipe themselves out against the car windscreen and generally make a massive nuisance of themselves. And they are incredibly loud, especially somewhere like Herrick, a forest preserve. There were times when we were walking today that you couldn’t hear yourself think – or anyone else, for that matter. That’s how loud they are. If you think I’m exaggerating…well, I’m not. Everyone here is sick of the cicadas. Thankfully, they apparently only arrive every 13-17 years en masse, and in smaller, less-annoying swarms year to year.
Despite the cicadas and ending our walk along the road, we covered nearly 5km around Herrick Lake which was very nice considering the heat and humidity. It’s going to be a week of similar weather until a cool change arrives around Friday. Needless to say, my morning runs have been more of a struggle in Chicago than they were in Boise, Austin, Indianapolis or Detroit.
Dinner with Jamie, Will, Connor and Nolan tonight. The boys loved their IndyCar diecasts and t-shirts. We ate outside, as the cicadas quietened down enough that we could hear each other talking, and roasted marshmallows over Will’s brand-new fire pit before a storm chased us inside. Always a fun night with these guys.
kitchtrips 