Plein Air with the Cicadas

I went to Wagner Farm in Glenview, Illinois last week with two old painting friends. Usually I paint alone. While I stood out in the hot sun to do the painting of the large building (like an idiot), they were in the shade. I had cicadas on my easel, on my pallete, in my paint and on my clothes and the back of my neck. I've set up in the woods and had spiders crawling up the easel; I've set up in the mountains and had mosquitoes buzzing me, but this was about the most annoying. Funniest moment came when I looked down at my shirt pocket and met the gaze of two beady red eyes looking back up at me. The darn things are harmless ---- but they are annoying -- noisy too. The larger building is a 9 X 12" and the smaller (the barn door) is an 8 X 10" -- which I did in the shade! Now I have the farmer tan -- I'm a redneck.