This is the sound of one of nature’s craziest insects, the periodical cicada. This summer, the cicadas of Brood IX emerged, after incubating underground for 17 years, opening their tiny bug eyes to find— “The number of dead from the coronavirus is well—” “—nationwide anger—” “—dangerous flooding and life-threatening, so-called murder hornets—” “—and the worst wildfire season that we have seen thus far.” “—thousand—” “One American dead—” “—and 90,000 deaths from the coronavirus.” Oh, right, and an election. This means that the last time Brood IX saw the light of day was 2003, a simpler time when these were cell phones and these were pants. 2003 gave us Finding Nemo, and ‘Crazy in Love’, and the softest shoes known to man. But wait a second. 2003 also gave us some real bummers too. “—early stages of military operations—” A president, who lost the popular vote, responsible for catastrophic loss of life. Millions of Americans protesting in the streets. The highest unemployment rate in a decade. A devastating hurricane. Record-breaking wildfires. Rampant political misinformation. A pandemic. “A mysterious respiratory illness—” The parallels between 2003 and 2020 are so undeniable. It’s creepy. “Since the coronaviruses as—” Right down to the widespread popularity of sweatpants. But why? Well, there are only two possible explanations. The first is that periodical cicada Brood IX did it. They cursed 2003 and came back to curse 2020. Kind of checks out. The second possible conclusion is that bad years act just like the cicadas do. That the actions, policies, and people from 2003 laid the eggs for what we’re dealing with now, just below a thin layer of nutrient dense soil where the issues lie growing, morphing, until they resurface 17 years down the line, louder than they were before. Imagine how things would have been different if we had spent the last 17 years confronting climate change with the urgency it deserved instead of continuing to spend billions of dollars every year subsidizing the fossil fuel industry. If we had practiced appointing competent and qualified leaders to head our disaster relief efforts. “And Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” Imagine if after the SARS pandemic in 2003, airlines and megacorporations had been mandated to take out pandemic insurance instead of knowing they could come back to beg for billions of taxpayer dollars time and time again. Police brutality and systemic racism— these are only 2020 issues for those who haven’t had to pay attention until now. “We don’t agree that there’s systemic racism in the police department.” We joke about canceling 2020 and look forward to the day our lives go back to normal. But the problems of 2020 have been incubating for years, feeding on disbelief in science, political nepotism, and policies catering to the interests of the wealthy elite, maturing into the perfect train wreck of a year. So it’s our choice to blame 2020 on the cicadas or to acknowledge that, in the same way the decisions from 2003 are affecting us today, the leaders we vote for and what we choose to ignore or accept as normal are shaping our reality 17 years down the line. And if we do it right, maybe the next batch of cicadas will have a better world to wake up to and so will your kids.