The signs of summer

The last few nights, I've been loving the sound of the chirping crickets, despite the occasional, irrational terror that they cause in me.

My dad, who likes to scare kids, made up a super scary horror story one summer. He cocked his head, and quietly said, "Do you hear that? Crickets." He then proceeded to tell us, how the sound of crickets reminded him of an event when he was in high school, and made up a long, freakin' scary story about being in underground tunnels at his seminary, being hunted by a demonic creature. It scared the pants off us.

So, despite my fear of the insects, they make me think of being a kid in the summer, when we'd play fanciful imaginary roles all day with our cousin-like family friends visiting from St. Louis, and then stay up all night, too scared to even leave our beds to use the bathroom.

Today was a super summery day - I left at 9:30 and rode my bike in a continuous 5-mile loop, the Powderhorn 24 route, for three hours with Matt, who was doing the 24-hour ride. I ate a taco, and rode to St. Paul for the Irish Fair and watched some dancing, looked at the art, was joined by Dan, had a beer, ate some sweet corn (not too many meatless options), listened to some music, watched some more dancing, and rode home, getting there at about 8:30. It was a perfect day, devoid of responsibility, just like when I was a kid.

And now, I will listen to the crickets as I fall asleep.