Skip to main content

Duet

This evening Eleanor went down to practice viola. As soon as she started playing, (the Tallis Cannon, if you're interested) another vibration started up. At first, I thought it might be the speakers for the TV or something. However, it hadn't been going on before I went downstairs so that didn't make sense. I made Eleanor stop playing so I could hear the noise better, and the noise went away. She started again, and the noise came back.

Hmmm. Maybe a bug? The noise was coming from behind the couch, so Eleanor and I looked but didn't see anything. We figured it was probably under the couch and couldn't be easily found. Eleanor tried to keep playing, but the noise was pretty distracting. I went up to find Michael to see if he would kindly remove the bug from our rec room so Eleanor could practice.

When Michael came down again, the bug (almost certainly a cicada) was quiet again, but started right up again when Eleanor started playing. Michael said the bug was outside. I didn't believe him until he opened the window---wow, that is one loud bug. The bug stopped when it didn't hear Eleanor's viola playing anymore.

The bug kept it up all through practice. Michael thought that it was reacting to a particular pitch, but when he whistled there was no response. Eleanor's theory is that it is a male bug, and when it hears Eleanor's viola it thinks there is a female cicada somewhere around and is trying to get her attention. She claims it shows how badly she plays, that a cicada thinks she's another cicada. She also claims that the cicada started in on the cannon in exactly the right spot.

The duet was definitely fun. However, I'd be glad if that particular bug moved away from viola practice tomorrow, as it was a bit distracting...
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
we call those "noisy bugs" at our house =)

FNDP
April 8, 2010 at 12:13 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My hero, Helen Parr

Otherwise known as Elastigirl , a.k.a Mrs. Incredible. She is a stay at home mom ( SAHM ), she clearly feels that what she is doing is important and is willing to give up a lot to do it (remember her comment in the intro: "I'm at the top of my game! Leave saving the world to the guys? I don't think so.") But she is finding fulfillment in leading her family from day to day, in doing a hard job well. She also knows that she is very talented, and that knowledge helps her see beyond the repetitive drudgery of staying home. My favorite scene is from the deleted introduction, where she talks with a "career woman" who is of the opinion that staying home is fine for people who can't do anything else. She responds that taking care of her kid is at least as hard as saving the world, and is valuable contribution to society. The point for me is that someone has to do the job that I'm doing, and it's not something that you could pay someone to do. I see...
8 comments
Read more

Kindergarten Fashions

I was informed the other day that Eleanor wants to get a new thermos. She lost the o-ring from her purple Tinkerbell thermos, and I have so far resisted buying another one for her, on the theory that you shouldn't just replace things that are broken since it doesn't encourage being careful with one's things. I have been sending her with the sippee cups that she has been using since she was a year old, which she has resisted giving up to the point of becoming partly dehydrated when I don't let her use them at home. Here's how the conversation went. Eleanor: Anna and Jane said today at lunch, " Kindergartners don't drink from sippee cups!" Me: That's very interesting. Eleanor: They are supposed to drink from thermoses. Me: Eleanor, would you like a new thermos? Eleanor: Yes! Get the purple one, please. If there is a crayon one, that's the one I want.... Who knew that peer pressure started in kindergarten? The sippee cups are perfectly f...
4 comments
Read more

Why you should study the history of math

  Why you should study the history of math In the mid 1300s a fad made its way around Italy. Mathematicians would challenge each other to “mathematical duels”. They would post problems for their opponents to solve, sometimes along with their solutions in coded poetry. The winners would get support and funding from rich patrons, the losers would descend into obscurity. One such contest, between Fiore and Tartaglia, involved a new method for solving the cubic. In order to win, Tartaglia worked day and night to find Fiore’s method---unfortunately, Fiore did not do the same and only knew his own method and no others. (*Recall that the formula for solutions to quadratic equations of the form use the quadratic formula, Giorlamo Cardano---physician, philosopher, astrologer and mathematician---convinced Tartaglia to share his method and promised never to reveal it. Then Cardano figured out a more general method, and wanted to share it, but was blocked by his promises. Fortunately (for Ca...
Post a Comment
Read more