My mom had known about my birding adventures and annual list of bird sightings for a while. She was not a birder, but her curiosity finally eclipsed her reluctance, and she started accompanying me on some of my birding outings a few years ago.
The roaring sound of cicada tymbals has noticeably quieted. The next generation of periodical cicadas is young and silent. After hatching from eggs laid in trees, they will fall to the ground and tunnel into the earth, where they will live in darkness for years. These days it is the lightning bugs who are putting on a show.
