Zoom w a View: “Cicadas don’t bug me, man”

I hear them when they sing but seldom find their home or leftover skin (former exoskeleton?).

[“The best-known North American genus is Magicicada... These periodical cicadas have an extremely long life cycle of 13 to 17 years...” Wikipedia]

I’d sing too if I finally got to play outside after 17 years of sittin’ indoors.

[Photos by G.Harrison]

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Now I Know: How Melba’s toast was invented

The rye bread we had in the house this morning was a bit stale but I threw it into the toaster oven anyway and pressed ON.

It was taking forever to toast so I investigated through bleary eyes and found the toaster oven was set to OVEN. I popped it open.


["The hat is definitely a mistake": GAH circa 1972]

Though the stale rye had been ovenated it still looked pale, so I popped it back in and toasted it for added colour.

Two minutes later it looked more like toast and after adding pb - so it could stick more firmly to the roof of my mouth - I noticed it tasted more like Melba’s toast, a product that is making her a fortune.

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Are there other products, made by mistake, that sit on store shelves today?

Leaf blowers qualify, right? I mean, you wouldn’t set out to actually make one, would you?

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