Destruction & Heaven

So today work took me to Cape Cod. I love Cape Cod and I love that my job sometimes takes me there. But....driving on the Cape today was DISGUSTING! There are literally thousands and thousands of large nasty cicadas flying all over the Cape. I must have seen 10,000 dead ones on the side of the road - probably more! And the sound when my van hit them - ugh. These things are huge and their guts are very pus-like. I was gagging at the pus-gut sprays on my windows- it was so gross!

I had to stop at the grocery store to get some bagels and cream cheese for our day at the beach and there was a live cicada sitting in the parking lot right next to my van. So I took this picture of it. Then - and I don't know what possesed me - I picked it up! The friggin thing made this horrible sound that I can't even begin to describe. Of course I screamed like a girl and the guy next to me laughed at me. Ew, ew, ew.

But then I arrived here:

And got to wade through an estuary with a net and about 30 other environmental educators catching cool creatures.

We caught six types of crabs (hermit, green, blue, fiddler, horseshoe, and rock), perriwinkles, a sea tunicate, minnows, a baby flounder, worms, steamers, quahogs, shrimp, jellyfish and more!

These little hermit crabs are just too cute!

Here I am bravely holding a big blue crab.