We had a few hours off yesterday afternoon and went on a short local hike. I heard these cicadas for the first time two years ago, drifting down from the mountains that surround the valleys we've been working in. They start singing late afternoon and stop when it starts to get dark out. It's been one of my favorite sounds since the first time I heard it. It was a little different so close up, but still so cool that when they suddenly started up all around us in the cedar trees, I was making a wizard metal fist before I even realized what I was doing.