Ten plus years ago, we bought our first home.  On one of our first nights in our home, we heard a chirping chirping sound that just wouldn’t stop.  Thinking it was a fire alarm, we looked everywhere and finally found the source of the loud chirping: the sounds were coming from our heating/ air conditioning vents.  Crickets!

There was no way to get deep into the vents to free the crickets, so we let them chirp, and they quieted down. Eager to learn more about the creatures creating this lovely sound, I found that in some legends, a cricket in the home is considered good luck.  That was great, since it was our first (and only) home.  I learned that some Native American tribes considered crickets a sign of good luck, and some considered crickets in the home a sign of bad luck.  I will ignore the bad luck predictions.

Last night, I was up late working on school work when I thought I heard a muffled fire alarm chirping.  And chirping.  And chirping.  I opened the window and heard many louder similar sounds, closed the window…and heard the sounds coming from near the window.  In a heat/air conditioning vent to be exact.

Ten years later, crickets welcoming me or complaining or just being.

I wrote a short poem years ago, an attempt at an imagist poem, about crickets:

chirping of crickets
continues under
the rails after
trains pass

They are tenacious!

They also signal a starting of the end of summer, and that’s something I look forward to usually; I have had enough of mosquitoes, excessive heat, and humidity.  I like cooler weather.

Yet I must admit I love the sunshine of summer as well.

Good thing I don’t control weather–I’d like the sunshine of summer and the coolness of autumn, please.

Thanks for reading, and here’s a few places to find more about these fascinating creatures:

https://goodlucksymbols.com/crickets/

http://www.native-languages.org/legends-cricket.htm

https://www.raandrade.com/superstitions-myths-legends-about-crickets/