In the spring of 1987 the media made a big brouhaha about the emergence of the biggest brood of cyclical cicadas. The 17 year batch was coming out. When you think about it, it is pretty amazing. How did these cicadas ever get into a 17 year cycle. This is something I gave a lot of thought to. At the time I was considering a career in entymology (The study of insects) so it fascinated me to no end. This same spring I came out of my shell and started to do some traveling around the globe. This particular spring I took a trip to Mexico. It was my first excursion out of the states and it made a big impression on me. It was a wonderful experience. The smells, the sounds, the sights, the food, the people. These are all things that are permanently ingrained on me. It was a joyous first excursion out of the country.

It's a funny thing though that I linked the 17 year cicadas with my trip to Mexico. The two subject were inextricably linked together. I remember sitting in a beautiful park in the mexican town at sunset and hearing the insects bring up a beautiful buzzing sound. It was wonderful and I always wondered it the sound was from cicadas or some other type of insect. Many years later my minds eye can still vividly recall that evening.

Now it is seventeen years later (now 2004) and this spring the media again started making loud chirps about the 17 year cicada brood. WIth the first newscast all the old memories of cicadas and Mexico flooded back to me. Had it really been seventeen years? - Already? What happened in between?

I couldn't resist the pull, and like a cicada emerging from its long sleep I booked myself a flight to the same town in Mexico and spent a few days there. It was still the same. The park, the sounds, the smells. It was all still the same.

Time is a funny thing.There is a philosophical theory that says "What if the world were created five minutes ago complete with all the memories?" Would you know the difference? If this is true then my cicada excursion is a wonderful creation.

I never did become an entymologist - funny the winding path that we do end up taking in our lives.

So far on each trip to Mexico I have bought a small mexican hat. Now i have two. I will take a picture of them and post it here. I am hoping to get at least two more hats. But if I solve the riddle of the meaning of life maybe I won't need any more hats.

-Will