{"id":7060,"date":"2024-04-14T08:45:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-14T12:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=7060"},"modified":"2024-04-14T08:45:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T12:45:13","slug":"swarms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2024\/04\/14\/swarms\/","title":{"rendered":"Swarms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is another in the Sunday Story series.  There\u2019s a little \u201cnews update\u201d in the beginning, then just a few stories about \u201cswarms\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Last night, a \u201cswarm\u201d of Iranian drones attacked Israel (in addition to more serious cruise and ballistic missiles, a total of over three hundred).\u00a0\u00a0It was a “slow motion” attack, with hours between the launch and the assault. Israel, with the help of the United States and Jordan and (maybe?) Saudi Arabia, knocked 99% of them down.\u00a0\u00a0Now, drones are a serious new weapon of war, ask the Ukrainians.\u00a0\u00a0Drones, at the minimum, absorb a lot of defense capability:\u00a0\u00a0if you\u2019re shooting down a couple hundred drones, you\u2019re don\u2019t have those same defensive weapons for cruise missiles and rockets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, it does seem almost laughable.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019ve watched \u201cdrone shows\u201d at the Olympics and the Super Bowl, when colorful drones, guided by computers, make all sorts of improbable three-dimensional patterns in the sky.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s beautiful, and almost miraculous to those of us not familiar with drone guidance technology. And we can cruise on down to Wal-Mart and buy our own drone, a simple version of the long range weapon (over 1000 miles) used by Iran last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toys of War<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, if we can do that for a \u201cshow\u201d, then what can \u201cwe\u201d do when war and lives are on the line? The Iranian drones aren\u2019t \u201cdumb\u201d.  Technology has come a long way from the Nazi V-1 \u201cBuzz Bombs\u201d of World War II.  Those were non-guided jet-propelled flying bombs, drones.  The Germans literally pointed them in the direction of Great Britain and fired off the engine.  The V-1 flew (with a distinctive buzzing sound) until they ran out of fuel \u2013 then fell to the earth and exploded.   As long as you heard them \u201cbuzzing\u201d \u2013 you were safe.   Targeting wasn\u2019t completely random back then, but close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that got me thinking about my experience with swarms.  And this essay is no longer about technology and advanced weaponry.  It\u2019s about swarms, real swarms, of insects; the kind of swarms that freak me out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cicadas Song<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The biggest swarm of insects I ever ran into was a couple of years ago.\u00a0\u00a0It was a swarm of cicadas, those damn, noisy infestations that crawl out of the ground and head up to eat the leaves and mate in the sky.\u00a0\u00a0Here in Ohio, there\u2019s supposed to be a \u201ctwenty-year\u201d cicada cycle, but, somehow,\u00a0\u00a0they don\u2019t seem to all be on the same calendar.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get some cicadas almost every year.\u00a0\u00a0I know, Lou, our big \u201ceverything\u201d mix dog, loves to dig up the yard to find the pubescent cicadas (and eat them).\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019ll eat the adults too.\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes Lou walks around the back yard with a sly, satisfied look on his face.\u00a0\u00a0Then you notice his mouth is \u201cbuzzing\u201d; an adult cicada contained inside.\u00a0\u00a0The outer shell (carapace) isn\u2019t really good for dogs, so we spend some time \u201cfreeing\u201d the insect from Lou\u2019s grip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gentle Crunch<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So one \u201ccicada\u201d summer, Jenn and I were taking a dog to the veterinary surgical center called \u201cTAHO\u201d, off of High Street north of Columbus in Olentangy.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We were nearing the busy intersection of Polaris Parkway and High, when we drove into the middle of a cicada swarm.\u00a0\u00a0We had to quickly roll up the windows, but even more, we had to turn the windshield wipers on to clear the view.\u00a0\u00a0And as we proceeded slowly into the intersection, there were three sounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, there was the deafening \u201cscreech\/song\u201d of the cicadas themselves, (produced by a \u201csound box\u201d in their abdomen to attract a mate).  It was so loud, we had trouble talking to each other in the closed car.  Second, there was the hailstorm of thumps, as cicadas flew into the windows, doors, roof, and sides of the car.  And finally, there was the gentle crunch, like breaking through the crisp icy top of a new snowfall.  That was the cicadas getting run over by our tires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It only last a block, from just south of the intersection until just north.  But it was definitely disturbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just Bees<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The second swarm also took place in the Olentangy area.  My track team was competing in the District meet at Olentangy Liberty High School.  As was my \u201ccustom\u201d, I was hanging out on the backstretch, just outside the fence from the pole vault runway.  It\u2019s \u201ccalmer\u201d on that side of the track, and I can talk to the vaulters, and still \u201ccommunicate\u201d with my athletes in the running events, as they fly down the backstretch, away from the cheering crowd in the home bleachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the vault was going on, and the runners were out on the track, when a close, dark, cloud flew across the football field and headed towards us.  It was a swarm, this time of bees.  Their appearance put my athletes to their ultimate test:  how fast could they really run, when a buzzing swarm of bees were taking direct aim at their heads? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I since learned that a swarm of bees (unless they are the new \u201ckiller bees\u201d) really aren\u2019t interested in stinging anybody, unless they are disturbed.  But, even if I knew that at the time, I\u2019d still be sprinting out of the way, and yelling at my kids to do the same.  And, while I was in my late-forties, I still could show MY old sprint speed, as I \u201clead\u201d my squad out of the path of the \u201cstorm\u201d, the swarm of bees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Punch<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But my worst experience with \u201cswarms\u201d was when I was in college.  I spent several summers backpacking all over the United States, and this time I was with a couple friends in the Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.  We usually covered ten to twelve miles a day, and on this particular day we were done with plenty of daylight left as we setup camp.  Matt and I were out gathering firewood, and saw a particularly attractive dead tree still standing next to a creek.  Dead trees still standing are great firewood.  They haven\u2019t been on the ground absorbing moisture, so they\u2019re likely to burn hot and fast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt went down the gentle embankment to grab the tree, and I followed him down to help.  Then, to my shock, Matt turned around and punched me in the stomach, hard.  He then sprinted past me up the embankment, yelling \u201cWASPS!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was still doubled over, so I had a good look at my lower right leg.  It was covered with wasps, who must have had a nest in the dead tree we choose for our nightly fire.  And fire was the right word, because my leg felt like it was on fire.  And, of course, what would put a fire out?  I jumped into the creek, about a foot deep, and sprinted as fast as I could, hoping to shake the wasps off of my legs, and avoid the rest of the swarm aiming  for my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wasps<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The trick worked, and I got away with only a dozen or so stings on my lower leg.  But I knew I couldn\u2019t take my boot off that night.  If it came off, it might never go back on, and we had \u201cmiles to go\u201d before we got to a road. The next morning, my swollen leg literally hung over the top of my laces, throbbing with each step.  But at least I had my boot on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And why did Matt punch me, then leave me to the swarm?  Well, he was highly allergic to stings, so much so that he hiked with a syringe and epinephrine in his pack (this was before the self-injector days).  We had strict orders to \u201cshoot him up\u201d if he got stung, or he\u2019d choke to death.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Matt knew \u201che\u201d couldn\u2019t get stung.\u00a0\u00a0And he was right.\u00a0\u00a0It was easier for me to limp on with a swollen leg (and keep a boot on for a couple of days) then it would be to save him, then carry him out to a road and hospital in those days before cell phones could call for rescue.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So swarms \u2013 of cicadas, bees, wasps and drones.\u00a0\u00a0All are disturbing, and some can be deadly, in nature, and in war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunday Story Series<\/h4>\n\n\n\n