By RAY POPE
They’re here! You may ask what am I talking about? You will find out very soon as the noise level around your house might just become unbearable in the back yard. I’m talking about the 13-year Cicada, which at my house came out this past Saturday. These red-eyed bugs will delight the birds and just in time for the larger species which will have young ready to eat whatever comes their way. The smaller ones might have a harder time swallowing a bug which is almost half their size.

You might compare them to the Children of Israel complaining about not having meat to eat. After a while they had more than they could handle and were tired of it. I’m not sure if our feathered friends will get tired of the Cicadas, but I’m sure that we will.

Spring is the time for planting flowers and also vegetables. I plan on planting at least 50 Better Boy tomatoes with a few odds and ends thrown in for good measure. I was lucky last season as my Roma tomatoes won a blue ribbon at the Wilson County Fair. When planting flowers remember to plant some that will attract Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and/or Butterflies. Any type of a trumpet-shaped flower works best for our little Hummers.

In a well know supercenter store I was taking a short-cut through the shoe department when I ran into Natalie Janney, the young lady in charge of the Dixon Merrit Nature Center at the Cedars of Lebanon State Park. We talked about how well things went last week and have plans for me to come out and do a few more bird programs and the Owl prowl. Of course I will keep you all posted about future bird happenings at the park. I don’t like to toot my own horn, but it’s a shame that more people don’t take advantage of a great state park right in our own back yard with nature programs every week of the summer.

Dear Ken: I saw rock singer Rod Stewart doing a TV interview recently and he looked great. How old is he? What were his biggest hits?

Roderick David Stewart, who has sold more than 100 million records, looks fabulous for 66 years of age. He dropped out of school at 15 hoping to become a professional soccer player and eventually got into music, singing in a variety of bands, but his big break came in 1967 when he became lead singer of the Jeff Beck Group. It was 1971 when he struck gold as a solo singer with his huge hit “Maggie May.” His other top tunes include “Reason to Believe,” “You Wear It Well,” “Sailing,” “Tonight’s the Night,” “I Don’t Want To Talk About It, “The First Cut Is the Deepest,”  “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy,“ “Baby Jane” and “All for Love.” The singer has eight children, including a 3-month-old.