August 14

Not since the wood frog and peeper calls of late April have our evenings experienced such background noise. The orthopteras dominate the chorus, and their mating calls are simply the epitome of the sounds of late summer nights.

Grasshoppers make up the constant sounds we hear, high-pitched trills that seem at once to be close to the house and far away in the woods. Of course, they aren’t really constant, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to discern where one insect pauses. There must be dozens that overlap, and the white noise sounds like the gentle intake of air through the mouth which is just slightly open and relaxed. It is a pleasant hallmark of August evenings.

Crickets keep a steady rhythm, and their familiar strident chirp comes frequently. Temperatures are warm this evening, and these black insects do synchronize to the ambient condition.

Katydids too are calling, through less often and less rhythmically.

It is peaceful now, in the gloaming as we sit on the back porch watching our two bats hunting overhead. The sharpness of the trees of the lower woods is lessening in the fading light, and the stillness of the night apart from the chorus is wonderful.