Tag / sounds

by Kelly Mattei

What Is That Noise?

What is that noise?

Over the past week or so, I have seen several posts on Facebook in which people ask about a strange, “otherworldly” noise in the Charlotte area. “It sounds like what I think a UFO would sound like!” Well, it’s not an alien spacecraft. It’s the cicadas emerging. I know. They usually sound “buzzy,” but when they are emerging in abundant numbers, and when they aren’t right beside you, they can sound like what we think an alien spacecraft would sound like…kind of a pulsating whir.

I grew up in Alabama. We saw them every year. I know you’re thinking, “But they don’t emerge every year!” No, each brood doesn’t, but in Alabama, there is at least one brood emerging every year. In North Carolina, we only have nine broods, but in Alabama? Twenty! It’s a lot like snakes. In Mecklenburg County, we only have one species of venomous snake, the Copperhead. In Alabama? Six! Yes, six! Three different types of rattlesnakes, the Copperhead, the Cottonmouth (water moccasin), and the coral snake. If you live somewhere that you’ve never had to worry about venomous snakes (Hawaii, Maine, Rhode Island, or Alaska), then it could be a little shocking to encounter a snake elsewhere and wonder if it’s venomous or not. When you grow up in Alabama, if you spend any time outdoors as a child, you will encounter snakes. You will also learn how to identify them, and you will likely play with the exoskeletons of cicadas.

Growing up, we referred to the empty cicada exoskeletons as “locust shells,” even though cicadas and locusts aren’t even related. And yes, we played with the empty locust shells…wearing them on the tips of our fingers, collecting them, lining them up…nature fun. Somehow, we innately knew live cicadas are harmless creatures. We didn’t fear them at all, but then, we had other things to worry about, like all those snakes, alligators, gnats, and love bugs…and those giant horse lubber grasshoppers, which aren’t harmful, but they’re giant (up to four inches long) and downright scary looking. We didn’t really play with cicadas, just the “shell,” but we had no fear of the actual insect. It was just a normal part of spring/summer for us. We always knew there would be heat, humidity, and creatures.

So yes, that “otherworldly” sound you’re hearing around your house in Charlotte right now is the emerging cicadas…nothing to fear. Just be thankful we aren’t hearing other scary sounds. At least we won’t step into our backyards and hear the “rattle” of the rattlesnake. We don’t hear the throaty rumble/growl of the alligator or the defensive hiss of the horse lubber grasshopper. We’re also lucky we don’t have to deal with gnats when we sit by the pool, and we don’t have to wash the dead love bugs off our cars. And while we have red fire ants in North Carolina, they still aren’t as plentiful as they are in Alabama. Don’t get me wrong. I loved growing up in Alabama, and I love that I am familiar with all those creatures…a little too familiar with fire ants, since I learned I was allergic to them at a very young age, resulting in a trip to the hospital. I survived and gained a healthy respect for ant “beds,” which is what we called ant hills when I was growing up.

Those cicadas don’t seem so bad now, do they? They won’t hurt you. They don’t bite. They’re just a little noisy for a little while, and then they’ll be gone. Enjoy what we refer to in Alabama as “the sound of summer.”

***Amazon has some books about cicadas and some of the other creatures I mentioned above. For a book about venomous US snakes, click here. For the National Wildlife Federation Guide to Insects and Spider & Related Species of North America, click here.

***Wondering about some of the Alabama creatures I mentioned above? Here are some photos:

^^^Lubber Grasshoppers^^^

^^^Love Bugs^^^

^^^Red Fire Ants^^^

^^^Venomous Snakes of Alabama^^^ (photo from Outdoor Alabama)…for more info on venomous snakes of Alabama, click here.

by Kelly Mattei

Observations In An Airport

My daughter and I traveled to Los Angeles for a couple of weeks recently, and we had some travel “snafus” on the way home with some flight cancellations. We originally were supposed to fly nonstop from LA to Charlotte. Long story short, we ultimately ended up being booked on a connecting flight through Columbus, Ohio, with a five hour overnight-ish layover in the Columbus airport. We made some new friends, and I made some observations.

I’ve spent lots of time in airports. When I first graduated from college, I was a flight attendant for a while. I worked in the travel industry till I was married in 2000, and we are still pretty regular fliers. We aren’t flying every week, but we fly pretty regularly. This last trip was a new experience for me. First, I always book nonstop flights, so I haven’t had the inconvenience of having to connect in a long time. We are very fortunate that Charlotte is a hub airport for American Airlines. Secondly, I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever had to spend five hours in an airport from about midnight to 5am…until last night. And those five hours gave me some time to make some observations.

  • When you’re in a less-than-ideal situation, you bond with others in the same boat. It’s true. Three ladies in the airport with us had been traveling for 36 hours because of cancellations. They didn’t have any food, but I had a bag full of snacks. I offered them a turkey sandwich and some chips, and they were grateful. I was happy I could help. One of them said the turkey sandwich tasted like Thanksgiving! I hope they’ve made it to the Cayman Islands by now.
  • Some folks can sleep anywhere. It was impressive how some of the other people who were waiting could sleep! I didn’t even think about sleep. In fact, I just strolled around the airport taking silly pictures…walking a few miles while I waited. But folks were sleeping with their heads on carry-on luggage. Some slept on the floor, and some slept in chairs. Some were even snoring! They were really asleep.
  • Connecting is a pain in the butt. I’ve known this for years. My husband always gets miffed with me when we discuss retiring and moving. He wants to move to a beach. I want to live in a city that’s a hub airport. Give me Charlotte, Atlanta, or even Houston or Dallas…but please don’t make me live somewhere that requires connecting flights to everywhere.
  • All airports are not created equal. I knew this too, but as we landed in Columbus, I expected to go to our gate and wait out the five hours till our next flight. Nope. After we had been sitting in the gate for about an hour, two security type personnel came over and rudely told us (there were about seven passengers waiting for the next flight), “You have to move outside the security barrier now. Let’s go.” What?!?! Was it really necessary to approach us so rudely? Trust me, our layover wasn’t long enough to get a hotel room, or I’d have gotten us one. We were not happy about having to hang out in the airport, but honestly, I was trying to make the best of it. They were just rude, rude, rude. And one of them, the female, appeared to need a visit to a doctor about an eye infection of some sort…ick. To add insult to injury, there were quite a few vending options inside the security barrier but very few outside the barrier. It seems as though they could have come to us earlier and said, “I’m sorry, but in about 30 minutes, we’re going to need you to move to the lobby area outside security. If you need to get anything from vending, you might want to do it now.” But nope…rude, rude, rude. ***I know several lovely people who live in Columbus…I think most folks there are great!***
  • All vending machines are not created equal. Kudos to Columbus for having a Jeni’s Ice Cream vending machine/kiosk in the terminal. I wish they were in every airport! Heck, I wish they were on every street corner! I would have loved to have gotten some for my daughter and her friend. It looked delicious. Too bad security didn’t give me the option of going to get it before they hustled us out of the terminal area like cattle. Also, on the outside of the machine, it said, “Welcome to Columbus, home of the best ice creams (and the nicest people) in the world!” I guess those security folks didn’t get the “nicest people” memo.
  • The smell of bacon is stronger at 5am when you’re boarding a flight. No joke, just as we started to board, I guess a restaurant opened and put some bacon on to cook. Does anything smell more yummy than bacon in the morning?
  • Little noises are enhanced when you’re in an airport and running on no sleep. Squishing plastic water bottles? Flip flops on sweaty feet? Cracking knuckles? Those noises don’t normally bother me, but in the last five minutes before we boarded the plane, my ears were sensitive to all those little noises that normally go unnoticed. I wanted to snatch water bottles out of people’s hands. I wanted to throw powder at people’s feet to stop the sweaty flip flop sound. And I wanted to pass out gloves to stop the knuckle cracking. Clearly, I was nearing my limit.
  • Attitude is everything…really. I was not thrilled about the cancellations/re-routing situation. I was unhappy. But I didn’t take it out on the American Airlines reservation agent. It wasn’t her fault. I’m sure she was having a terrible day with all the cancellations. And when we landed in Columbus, I decided I wasn’t going to try to sleep. I was going to walk around taking goofy pictures to entertain myself. I wasn’t going to be unhappy. I made that decision. And despite the rude security personnel (bless their hearts!), I was pretty darn happy.
  • Small acts of kindness mean a lot. During our flight from LA to Columbus, I was talking with the flight attendant about our predicament…I was laughing about it. But she felt terrible and made sure the girls had plenty of snacks for our layover. Kudos to her for her kindness.
  • Shiny airport floors would be great for running and sliding. I considered it. I wanted to do it. But would I break a hip? Or an arm? Besides, my daughter would have been horrified. I kept my cool. I didn’t run and slide…but it would have been fun!
  • An alarming number of people walk around barefoot in airports. I have TSA Pre-check. One of the main reasons I wanted pre-check was so I wouldn’t have to remove my shoes at security. It totally grosses me out to walk barefoot where all those other sweaty feet have walked. Yuck. But I noticed quite a few people walking through the airport lobby with no shoes last night. That’s almost as bad as the ones who go to the airport lav with no shoes…ick.

That’s my wisdom from the airport. If you’ve made other observations, I’d love to hear them. And for the record, we love American Airlines. I think they are experiencing some labor issues right now, but I certainly hope it all gets resolved soon…for my sake, but especially for the sake of the airline. Labor disputes can cripple an airline, inconveniencing passengers and employees too. My hope is that everyone involved will realize there is a better way to do things.