Locust Madness, and the Coming of Winter

While we were in Alexandria, something amazing happened in Cairo: the city was attacked by a swarm of locusts! This is amusing not only in itself, but also because I had just recently finished a short story with my seniors (“A Mild Attack of Locusts,” by Doris Lessing) in which a farm is virtually destroyed by a locusts. When I got back, they asked me how I knew the locusts would come to Cairo: I said I didn’t know, but that my assigning that story must have caused the swarm to come. Maybe, I suggested, we should next read a short story about a huge earthquake? No, no, no, they shouted! Pretty funny.

Winter arrived about the same time we returned. Alexandria was cooler and much wetter than Cairo, and it rained there off and on the entire three days we were there. Now it became much cooler in Cairo, too. More blankets were thrown on beds, jackets and sweaters were purchased or retrieved from closets, and suddenly everyone was bundled up. The classrooms are not heated, so coats were common. We actually ran our heater in our apartment fairly regularly. As I write this, however (early March), it has begun to warm back up. Though you can still wear sweaters, more than one layer is usually not required.

Can summer’s heat be far behind?