They look like small birds flying around in the big trees at the back of my yard. One of them, either confused or exhausted, sat for a time on one of the banana leaves. I wonder if it figured out that was the wrong type of tree or just appreciated the place to rest. This is probably the last of these spectacular events I will see. My first was 1987 when I went to an estate sale in North Arlington and found a neat hassock fan and a Maytag water dryer that John and I picked up the next day. The very nice lady running the sale was interested in my interest in appliances and took my name to notify me of any unique ones she found at future sales. She is still alive, but retired in New England and, I found out years later, is related to one of my best friends with whom I go to Temple and walk at Hillwood every Shabbat years after she and I have helped ease other loved ones out of this life. Then there was 2004 and I watched them come up out of the ground the first night and climb up trees to shed their casing of 17 years, pump the fluid into their wings and change from a soft little white creature into a big, dark, fierce looking creature that is still sort of soft inside with a more substantial exoskeleton. It amazing how that little creature carries enough hydraulic power to inflate the wings and body then sustain itself through all of the flying and reproducing in the few weeks above ground on just the energy with which it left the sustenance of the tree roots and began its upward journey. Looking at life in 17 year segments is instructive as to purpose and accomplishments. In 1987, I had already lost loved ones. By 2004, I had lost many more and now in 2021, even more. I wonder if a creature that can count to 17 knows that the end is coming or does it just gradually run out of energy like a battery-powered device and go through a process of diminishing perception.? On what criteria do they choose a mate, the loudest noise or something else? The silence at the end of their party is sad. Even sadder are the waning days when we notice that their noise is fainter and not as constant and we know that only a few are left and we hope that they find a mate before dying.
