The opossum remains. I was told Monday that it would be gone by today, but no dice. It's been cool enough the last two days to turn off the AC but I can't open the windows along the back of the house without it smelling like we live on a landfill. I'm grateful that I don't have to deal with the collection of this ex-opossum and think that fact alone should keep me from complaining anymore about it. He doesn't have anymore company back there, which is nice, because that aspect of the situation was really starting to nauseate me.
Oddly enough, I can sit on the deck and not be aware of its presence, a benefit of gentle breezes, I suppose. So today I sat outside and read in the middle of the afternoon. It's been much quieter lately and I think the cicadas are on their last legs. Apparently when it's their time, it's their time. They go suddenly.
I had five fall out of the trees and onto me in an hour. Only one of them was alive at the time of plummet, and he didn't last much longer when I escorted him off my body (carefully, of course). Ah, soon, very soon, I shan't be writing about cicadas anymore.
I wonder if I shall still be doing this in 2024?
I was thinking about how I labeled this as "the summer of death" a few days ago and I would like to amend that to "the summer where it seems an awful lot of things that are not human are passing on" before something really unfortunate happens and I get blamed. I happened to be thinking about this as I sat in bed reading last night, and shortly afterward Kristen noticed a bug flying around the ceiling. It was too small (and quiet) to be a cicada, and it moved too fast to be a moth. I think it was a box-elder bug (which seems to be a type of insect 'round these parts that no one has heard of, at least no one I have spoken to today, which pretty much means that my wife has never heard of it before) and just as I was getting ready to get up and try to get rid of it (three gets in less than half a sentence! Genius. Super Genius.) it flew into the ceiling fan and quite stunned itself. After a short rest, it did it again, making a very large "thwack"ing sound that told me that there was no need to worry about getting rid of this bug because it had succeeded quite well in getting rid of itself. Thus I renamed my summer.
No death allowed in the Random 11:
1. "Push"-The Cure. Great. I proclaim no death and the first song that comes up is a song by The Cure, featuring the happiest lead singer in the history of mankind, Robert Smith. This song does mention strawberries and cream, though. It's the only way to beeeeeeee, yeah.
2. "Harvest Moon"-Neil Young. Songs like this make me hope that I am still around when my 50th wedding anniversary arrives. My wife, too, of course.
3. "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"-Paul Simon. I don't think anyone does lyrical metaphor better than Paul Simon does all through Graceland. And he was a decent senator to boot.
4. "Untitled"-The Cure. This is the last song on the Disintegration CD. Do not listen to this song without the maximum amount of endorphins flowing through your brain, or it will whack you good. I'm bemoaning lost loves listening to this and I don't even have any.
5. "Flight Test"-The Flaming Lips. Love, love, love this song. "I don't know where the sunbeam ends and the starlight begins/it's all a mystery/and I don't know how a man decides what's right for his own life/it's all a mystery. Have I mentioned that I love this song?
6. "5:15"-The Who. I suppose this calls for some type of "why should I care" joke, but I'm blanking. The slogan for their current tour maybe? Jam Records presents 50% of The Who. But hey, it's the better half. Eh. Start again.
7. "Keep the Car Running"-Arcade Fire. How did I get through forty years of life without this band? Of course, when I listen to the lyrics of this song closely, I decide that it's about death. But it's such a pick-me-up, plus there is a hurdy-gurdy being played in the background. "We don't know how and we don't know when its coming/keep the car running"
8. "A Murder of One"-Counting Crows. I like this song even though I think the leader singer of this band has one of the more annoying voices ever created. That reminds me, do you say "larynx" or "larnyx"?
9. "Black Books"-Nils Lofgren. Quite possibly the best song ever used as a closing to The Sopranos. And I would sincerely like to thank David Chase for using "Don't Stop Believing" for the final-ever scene of that show. Now I no longer have to think about the 2005 White Sox whenever I hear it.
10. "Catch My Fall"-Billy Idol. I am 16 again for three minutes and forty-three seconds. It could happen to you/so think for yourself.
11. "God's Gallipoli"-Poi Dog Pondering. We say no death, yet we start with death and end with death. I blame the cicadas. I'm glad that they will be gone soon. I think that I want this song played at my funeral and everyone in attendance will beforced to participate in a musical number, which I will have choreographed beforehand. And I will be watching. Five, six, seven, eight...
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