Seventeen years ago, it was pretty noisy around northern Virginia and it wasn’t all because of the wedding activities. On this date in 2004, people visiting from out of the area were asking, “what’s that noise?” The answer was, of course, cicadas. Just like 17 years ago, over the next month or so, billions of cicadas will emerge in a number of states, from New York west to Illinois and south into northern Georgia, including spots in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. This group of cicadas, known as Brood X (as in the Roman number 10) is among the geographically largest of all 17-year periodical cicadas.
Once above ground, the cicadas announce their arrival — the main aggravation they inflict on us is their loud, buzzing mating call. The sound is equal to the intensity of a lawn mower or motorcycle.
But around here we acknowledge this date for another reason — for the last 16 years, we’ve dubbed May 22 as “Anniversary Day.”
Anniversaries are an important part of life — they mark important events. It’s like we put a pin on the calendar to remind us of something that’s important and matters to us. It’s a chance to reflect on a relationship — and to celebrate the event. It gives us a chance to look back over the years since our wedding day and reflect on how it has shaped us.
As wedding anniversaries accumulate over the years, they can elicit mixed emotions. Some years we feel pressured to do something amazing to mark the date, but some years it’s just a good time for regrouping the relationship — maybe just as simple as going out to dinner and remembering the day you got married, or met, or got engaged to remind yourself why you fell in love in the first place.
So this will be a noisy anniversary for Kelly and Chris — I’m not sure about the cicada population around Cleveland, but no matter….. if my math is correct, the “Anniversary Day” this year celebrates 39 years of marriage. Happy Anniversary to Kelly and Chris for the 17th time and to Mike and Sue for the 22nd time. Just think, next time we celebrate a ‘cicada’ anniversary, in 2038, Kelly and Chris will only be 16 years away from number 50 — and for Mike and Sue that big one will only be 11 years away.
With, or without, cicadas — Anniversary Day is great…..
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