HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson.
On our show this week: music by jazz drummer Elvin Jones, and aquestion about the Memorial Day holiday. But first, we report aboutthe arrival of some interesting insects!
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HOST:
Thousands of millions of unusual insects have begun invading theeastern United States. Shep O’Neal has the story about the Brood Tencicadas.
ANNCR:
Insect experts have identifiedmany different kinds of cicadas. At least one group appears everysummer, but the group known as Brood Ten is the largest. They appearevery seventeen years.
For the past seventeen years, the insects have been livingunderground, getting food from tree roots. Then they come up out ofthe ground to mate before they die.
These cicadas can be found this summer across fifteen states,from New York to Missouri and as far south as Georgia. The largestnumbers will appear in parts of Indiana and Ohio.
People there can expect between one-hundred-thousand and morethan one-million cicadas per hectare in places. The experts say thatthe group known as Brood Ten is the largest insect appearance in theworld. It will involve thousands of millions of insects.
Cicadas are about four centimeters long. They are harmless. Theydo not bite or sting. They have black bodies, red eyes and red legs.They fly using orange-colored wings. And they make a rather loudnoise that sounds like this:
(SOUND OF CICADAS)
Male cicadas make this noise to attract females. After they mate,the female lays her eggs at the top of a tree. When the eggs hatch,the tiny cicadas drop from the tree and dig into the ground wherethey will live for seventeen years. Experts say that many animalslove to eat cicadas, including birds, snakes, squirrels, cats anddogs. Some people eat cicadas, too. But they cook the insects first.The cicadas that are not eaten survive to lay eggs and produceyoung.
Experts say that is the secret to the survival of the Brood Tencicadas. Animals may eat as many as they can. Yet enough cicadassurvive to continue the species so the young will appear again inseventeen more years.
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HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam. Hoai Phi asks about the Memorial Day holiday in the UnitedStates.
Americans will celebrate Memorial Day on Monday, Maythirty-first. It is the holiday that honors the men and women whodied fighting in wars for the United States.
The story of Memorial Day begins after the American Civil War inthe eighteen-sixties. It was the idea of the daughter of a Unionofficer who had been killed in battle. She wrote a letter to anorganization of soldiers who had served in the Union Army of thenorthern states that had won the Civil War. She described a Germantradition of placing flowers on soldiers’ burial places each spring.She said Americans should decorate soldiers’ burial places the sameway.
The commander of the soldiers’ organization agreed. He orderedthat May thirtieth, eighteen-sixty-eight be named “Decoration Day”to honor soldiers who had died in the Civil War.
“Decoration Day” became popular. It was also called “MemorialDay.” A confederate Memorial Day was observed in some southernstates.
New York was the first state to declare Memorial Day a legalstate holiday. That was in eighteen-seventy-three. Congress made ita national holiday in eighteen-eighty-eight. After World War One,Memorial Day became a day to remember those who died in all thenation’s wars.
Today, Americans celebrate Memorial Day in different ways. Townsand cities across the nation hold parades over Memorial Day weekend.Many people attend special ceremonies to hear speeches and bandmusic. People enjoy the warm spring weather with their families.They may cook dinner outdoors, go swimming or have a party withfriends.
Some people travel to Washington, D.C. to attend nationalMemorial Day ceremonies. This weekend, many people from around thecountry are in Washington for the opening of the new National WorldWar Two Memorial. You can hear more about the new memorial on theSpecial English program This is America on Monday.
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HOST:
American jazz drummer Elvin Jones died last week in New Jersey.Faith Lapidus remembers the extremely influential artist.
ANNOUNCER:
Elvin Jones said he loved thedrums since he was two years old. He said he knew he was not goingto be a doctor or a firefighter, but a drummer.
So, at thirteen, he began teaching himself how to play. Overtime, he took drumming to a new level in jazz music. One expert saidElvin Jones created a circle of sound. Listen to his musiccomposition, “George and Me.”
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In nineteen-sixty, jazz saxophonist John Coltrane formed hisfirst band. He invited Elvin Jones to join. The drummer stayed inthe John Coltrane Quartet for six years. Elvin Jones described hisworking relationship with Coltrane as almost perfect harmony.
Here Elvin Jones and the Quartet play “Resolution” from the album”A Love Supreme.”
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Elvin Jones formed his own group after he left the Quartet. Hecontinued to perform until the very last weeks of his life. ElvinJones was seventy-six when he died. We leave you now with “It’s Easyto Remember,” an Elvin Jones group recording fromnineteen-eighty-four.
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HOST:
This is Doug Johnson.
Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Orwrite to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C.,two-zero-two-three-seven, USA.
Please include your name and postal address. We’ll send you agift if we use your question.
Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver. MarioRitter was our producer.
I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC. Join us again next week forVOA’s radio magazine in Special English.