Issues
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popcorn
My first job was at a movie theatre near my house. I began working there in the spring of 1986, during my senior year of high school. We were paid minimum wage, which at that time was well below $5.00 per hour. A small bucket of popcorn cost more than that. I started out as…
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1987
The 1987 emergence of Brood X was especially resonant for me. I was 18, poised between childhood and adulthood, eager to try new things, but also a little afraid. The analogy between me and the cicadas is almost too obvious to merit an explanation, but I will try anyway. 1987 was a time of change…
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2024 will be the year of the cicada
In 2024, something special will happen to cicadas in the United States. This spring, two different broods of cicadas, one that lives on a 13-year cycle and the other that lives on a 17-year cycle, will emerge at the same time throughout the Midwest and Southeast. This has not happened in 221 years. The last…
The Periodical Cicada 