Larry The Cricket Farmer

Until I moved to the desert I had no idea they even existed, these so called 'Cricket Farmers'. They go about town throughout their day seemingly unnoticed, hidin' under the radar. Extremely hard to spot, they wear no hats, gloves or 'uniforms' of any kind for that matter. Yet, I know they exist.


I'm not quite sure where they get their 'training', perhaps Cricket "U" but I have yet to see any license plate frames or stickers advertising such schools nor of the Alumni that would come from such institutes of higher learning. But here again, they must exist because my neighbor Larry surely must have gone to school to perfect his 'craft'. Either that or he has a 'gift' born through generation after generation of Cricket Farmers.


After all, how else could one human being house so many crickets on one patio. Strange thing is, I have yet to see any type of feeding 'apparatus' or 'living quarters' for these crickets. Anything at all that would prove that this 'Farm' actually exists, yet come nightfall it becomes painfully obvious to the ears that yes, I live next door to a Cricket Farm.


Oh, don't be fooled such as I have. By day he's a mild mannered Pharmacist at the local grocery store but I know his true talents lie elsewhere, in the field of Cricket Farming. It must be his calling as he definitely has a 'knack' for it. No other way to explain it. When asked about his 'herd', his only reply is to say "It's a Gift, they are just drawn to me!" I'll say they are. By the millions!


Perhaps he could be considered more of a "Cricket Whisperer" than a farmer. I'm not exactly sure but one thing I am sure about is that it takes a special talent to attract the amazingly vast amounts of crickets to ones patio that he does. Lucky for the rest of you, he's a rare breed indeed. I would hate for others to live next door to such a relentlessly never ending noise factory.


So, next time you're driving down Hwy. 111 or in line at your local Big 5 Sporting Goods store buying ear plugs, keep in mind that you could be right next to one of the rarest species out there, the Cricket Farmer.