Certain locations in Illinois are anticipating the springtime emergence of two periodical cicada broods. Brood XIII emerges once every 17 years, and Brood XIX emerges once every 13 years. This year they emerge together.
Clumps of crescent-shaped seed pods embellished a dried plant that stood a few feet tall. The plant lined an open trail and called for a closer examination.
The ice over the pond was thinning, betraying the dark water beneath its increasingly transparent surface. A trio of beavers was there.
