847th Friday Blog Roundup

Because Brood X cicadas are called cicadas, and because cicadas exist all over the world, when I talk about the cicadas, I think most people who are not in the epicenter of Brood X imagine… well… cicadas. That is not what we are dealing with right now.

Imagine every tree covered in bugs that are about the size of your thumb. When I say “covered,” I don’t mean that there are four or five hidden on upper branches. I mean that the trunk is coated in moving cicadas or their shells, and every leaf has a cicada or two hanging from it. Then imagine that the remaining trillions of cicadas are hanging out on shrubs or in the grass or flying around in the air or clinging to windows. And now imagine a trillion cicadas begin humming from around 6 am and going until about 8 pm. Every day. All day. It is loud.

They fly at you and land on you because they have no radar.

Unless you’ve been to Maryland during the 17-year cicadas, it is hard to picture it. It’s like someone who lives in Arizona hearing from someone in Minnesota that they understand how a hot day feels.

I feel really really really done with June. Four more weeks.

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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “The ‘Unmothers’ Day” (Apron Strings for Emily)

Okay, now my choices this week.

I had bookmarked “The ‘Unmothers’ Day” by Apron Strings for Emily for this week. Not only will you get photos of a truly adorable dog (actually, a truly gorgeous dog), but she explains the connection between this dog and her journey: “Why am I bringing up both Kirby and Infertility? Well, the obvious is because Kirby is our four-legged child; and therefore, has provided us with a way to raise and nurture a child.” And that story continues when she tries to add another dog to her family, and the feelings the situation surfaces. It is a fantastic, thought-provoking post.

There was a lot that I related to in this post about struggling from Finding a Different Path. She writes: “I am having what can only be described as a tough time. I wish I could say why. We had a long weekend — four whole days of rest and relaxation — and I found myself feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, with a disturbing touch of Failure to Launch. I had a hard time getting motivated.” That is exactly how I feel, too, and I’m not sure why because things are getting better out there. But somehow this period of time feels harder than this same time last year.

Finally, The Next 15000 Days has a post about a friend’s insensitive comment. Luckily, she spoke up, so her friend will hopefully take it to heart. But for what it’s worth, if purpose is the key to life, I think that is within reach of everyone to look for and find.

The roundup to the Roundup: The cicadas are everywhere. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between May 21 – June 4) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.