"the woods are just trees/the trees are just wood/I sort of hate to ask it/do you have a basket?"

Here in the desert, we've finally reached High Summer. This after a mild and dry year so far, record-setting freeze notwithstanding: this week, high temperatures have been over 100°F/40°C. (Yes, not an exact translation, but true by either measure.) But yesterday what made it really feel like the season was hearing the cicada chorus ramping up. They're still rehearsing, but it sounded like full dress rehearsals, with tickets to afternoon performances no doubt going on sale soon.

Around here, cicadas say zrrEEEEEEEEEE drawn out for a few minutes, with occasional tik tik tik tiks as they catch their breaths. What do they say where you are?

---L.