I went into a library for the first time in 15 months. Before the pandemic, I went to the library probably three times per week. So it was a bit of a mental adjustment to go from three times per week to zero times per week for 15 months.

I went to five different libraries this weekend, part of an ongoing, pre-pandemic project. Things got paused in the first part of the project with one-third of it complete. Restarting things took me over the halfway mark, and it made me feel like my life was moving forward again.

I stayed by the front desk in the first library, speaking with the librarian, turning my head slightly as she answered me so I could look back at the stacks of books. So many books. All in one place. Like… a library.

The second library wasn’t really open—just the front hall. The third library was super high-tech. They had hands-free temperature devices and the library was fully open. The fourth library was the only one where all the patrons were masked and the library staff was mask-free. The fifth library felt the most normal. Everyone was masked, and they were moving about the rooms, looking at books. I mean, yes, there were masks, but other than having something over our nose and mouth, it felt like old times. I felt super emotional about it.

I miss travel, and I miss family and friends. I miss restaurants. But I really really really miss libraries. It felt good to be back.

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.

When Josh’s birthday rolled around this year, we joked that everyone gets a pandemic birthday. His birthday was the last birthday we celebrated out-and-about before everything shut down, and he got to experience a celebration of nothingness.

But here I am celebrating my second pandemic birthday. (Lucky me!) We just passed the two-week window post-vaccine, so I could behave as if the pandemic was over. But that’s not how we’re operating over here. We’re careful.

I’ve said it before, but I’ve been thinking about Spalding Gray’s Impossible Vacation a lot during the pandemic because, like the main character, plans keep getting thwarted this year. And in many ways, I’ve allowed them to be thwarted because I couldn’t come up with a better reason than “I am burned out and need something good right now.”

Maybe it was taking a break this past weekend, but it feels like that is a good enough reason, full stop. I may have limits on how I can celebrate my birthday, but there have always been limits on how I can celebrate my birthday. For instance, even if I want a parade down the main street of town led by a swarm of ducks, I am not allowed to shut down traffic OR gather up huge swarms of ducks. So. There is that.

But I can force my family into a yearly game of Yahtzee without complaint and read novels and eat something delicious. We will try for a beach day soon. I will buy myself the new McCartney cookbook. And that sounds super okay. Even if I turn out to be the only family member with two pandemic birthdays due to the caseloads in the area.

By “talk,” I really mean “teach.” The Guardian recently had an opinion piece on why miscarriage and infertility should be covered in sex ed classes in school. I wholeheartedly agree.

The benefits are more long-term than immediate: “Including fertility struggles and the normality of miscarriage in sex ed curriculums could undoubtedly improve the mental health of those who later experience pregnancy loss.”

It would be helpful not only for the individual to understand what is happening from the get-go, but for everyone around the person to also understand miscarriage because they’ve been exposed to the idea in school and beyond. It takes something that is hard and makes it a tiny bit easier because the event is (ideally) surrounded by support and understanding.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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On the “this doesn’t sound good” front: there seems to be a connection between PCOS and COVID-19. Namely, women with PCOS are at higher risk if they contract COVID-19. This quote says it all:

“‘PCOS is completely underestimated in its impact. It’s sort of seen as some reproductive issue that is not clinically relevant. But this is completely wrong … Patients need to be seen as a high-risk population,’ said Dr. Wiebke Arlt.”

In other words, women’s health is being swept under the rug yet again: “Despite how common PCOS is, as well as the serious complications it can come with, health experts say the condition has long been overlooked, misunderstood and under-researched, leaving patients to advocate for themselves or even educate practitioners to get treatment.”

If you have PCOS, read the CNN article. Cristy sent me the link, and I’ve now seen the news in a few places this week.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.