The Melodious Sound of the Crickets

On Friday I went out with a friendly, good-looking guy on a date, our first date together. We dined on Indian food. At the end of the evening he gave me a very romantic kiss goodnight right at my door. It was an exciting, dare I say arousing evening. Last night was quite a bit different, but it was still enjoyable. Last night I strolled by myself to a neighborhood schoolyard and sat near a small stand of large, old oak and ash trees. Get this; I wanted to listen to the crickets.

Yes I know; I’m pretty goofy. I know that. Listening to the crickets on a cool early autumn evening is not everyone’s idea of great excitement. But I find the sound of crickets coming through the darkness to be very soothing. Some animal sounds will do that to me. Another such sound is the cooing of the mourning dove, especially on a bright, warm, summer morning. These sounds put me in a frame of mind where I feel as though I want to pause for a few moments and think about things, to reflect on life. I can almost get philosophical; almost.

Last night I sat on a bench in the darkness for about twenty minutes, just pondering various things, the crickets caroling in the background. After a time I found that one particular cricket had caught my attention. He was a little closer and a little louder than the others. I decided I would use the cadence of the cricket’s chirp to determine the air temperature. You can do that, you know. It’s called Dolbear’s Law. To calculate the temperature a person just has to count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and then add 40. So if the cricket chirps 18 times in 15 seconds, as this one did, then the outside temperature is less than 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

The cricket told me that it was chilly. In a way, the cricket suggested that I had sat without a jacket in the cool darkness long enough and it was time for this goofy, cricket-listening girl to head home. So that’s what I did.