When Nature Calls (By: Tammy)

Matt has had all of the exciting stories lately so I haven’t been writing as many blogs, but I did want to write this brief post so that everyone else in the world can experience what wakes me up each morning.

On our first morning here, I was awoken by the sudden sound of what I then described as a tiny person screaming. I jumped out of bed and woke Matt up, thinking that something was terribly wrong with the pipes or something else in our home. Matt also heard the tiny person’s shriek and acted concerned for a minute, but not enough to fully awaken from his jet-lagged slumber.

Later, we were informed that what I thought was our water pipes preparing to explode, was actually a cicada. Despite their ear-piercing screech, they are a fairly reliable alarm clock, sounding their high-pitched scream just as the sun begins to come up each morning for about ten minutes. Although they still wake me almost every morning (whether I want to get up then or not), I have come to appreciate their consistency and I automatically know what time it is when I hear their call (without even having to open my eyes and look at a clock). I have such an appreciation for them in fact, that I decided to jump out of bed earlier this week and record their screams for you! Below you will find a video with the lovely sound of our PNG cicadas screaming. I hope you enjoy your little taste of PNG for the day! Listen to the entire 30 second clip for the full effect.