OK so I'm out by the maple tree in the back yard, flashlight in hand, showing my 8-year-old son the larvae swarming up the tree. He is less than impressed, but I am mesmerized by these creatures, in various stages of metamorphosis, slowly turning from a subterranean grub to a bizzare winged thing. In my revelry I hadn't noticed that some of the grubs mistook me for a tree, and were making their way up my pants legs. My son didn't even stay for the dance, but ran screaming into the house - he was more impressed at that point, I suppose. I only hope I can get him to come outside again sometime .....

Seriously, there is something primordial, macabre, profound and moving about the whole thing. Imagine emerging on a humid May night after tunneling through the ground for 17 years, climbing a tree, splitting open and turning into a completely different creature. Who says there are no miracles in the world?? They are also like little time machines, coming up where a tree was 17 years ago - it's uncanny. And it gives one pause.

Bo