Time was 7:52 p.m., and I was seated outside, very close to the spot where a woman who cooks near our house keeps and breaks the firewood she uses. I was glancing through my phone when I suddenly began to hear the sound of a cricket — exactly the kind of sound crickets make whenever they fly down from the sky and settle on the ground.
Did I just say crickets come from the sky? Well, that’s what we were told, and it seemed real because way back when we were growing up, we used to see crickets fall from the sky, especially during the moon season and whenever there was electricity. We would catch them, fry them, and enjoy ourselves.
Okay, back to what I was saying. The sound was a bit faint — not as loud as the ones we used to hear back then during our childhood days. I got up from my seat and began to trace the cricket by following the sound, but it was untraceable. I tried all I could to see if I could find where it had made its house in the ground and probably catch it — not to eat it though, just to relive the good old days by seeing a cricket again.
Do you eat crickets? It was when I became an adult that I found out through the internet that there are people who don’t eat crickets and don’t even know the edible type (I mean, the type we eat in my hood, Nigeria).
I remember having a conversation with some friends while in school, and they kept asking which cricket is edible. Despite my endless explanations, they completely rejected the idea of eating crickets, saying they are just mere “insects.” I won’t be surprised if any of you reading this come after me with the same mindset — thinking I eat mere insects all in the name of crickets. Yeah, I’ve been talked down to by people before on this matter.
But if you don’t eat crickets, you’re really missing a lot. That thing is so delicious when fried with oil.
Back then, we used to dig holes to catch them on the farm, especially when it was their season and we were clearing grass. During the moon season too, we caught them as they fell from the sky. When there was a bright light in the compound during cricket season, the light would attract them, and we would catch them as they gathered around the light.
Thanks for reading.
Photo used is mine