Crickets are sensitive to changes in air temperature, and chirp at faster rates as the temperature rises. If you’ve a mind to, it is possible to use the chirps of the cricket common throughout the North America to gauge temperature. To get a rough estimate of the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and then add 37. The number you get will be an approximation of the outside temperature. This formula is said to be accurate within one degree. A variation is to count the chirps in 13 seconds, and add 40. You can find out more about crickets from the Library of Congress.

My husband’s aunt, Beverly Sills, passed away yesterday of cancer at the age of 78.  Aunt Bubbles began life as Belle Miriam Silverman, one of three children of Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. At the age of three, a nickname was given to her by her two older brothers Sidney & Stanley Silverman.  She later adopted the stage name “Bubbles” to launch her singing career as a child star on a local radio show in Brooklyn, New York.

Within ten years, she was studying voice under Estelle Liebling and piano with Paolo Gallico and learning the French and Italian languages.

Graduating from the Professional Children’s School in 1945, Miss Sills plunged into the American musical world of national touring companies. She sang everything from Gilbert and Sullivan to Bizet in a succession of brief engagements and one-night stands that required exhaustive repertory and made severe demands on versatility and stamina. This apprenticeship provided her the experience that eventually brought her star billing at the New York City Opera. Sills joined the opera house in 1955. While there, she sang almost 90 roles during her career. Her mother traveled with her and made her costumes.

She retired from the stage in 1980, but she continued to delight operatic audiences as impressario of the New York company.  As general director earned Beverly Sills a reputation as a dynamo in the world of the performing arts. She was as much admired for her drive, devotion and hard business head as for her voice. She attracted financial support and fans by re-molding the image of the New York City Opera as an experimental company willing to stage new operas and revive and revise unfamiliar but ingratiating classics. 

What I appreciated about Aunt Bubbles professionally was how she brought the appreciation of the European opera and brought it home to Americans.  She made opera approachable with her warm down home Brooklyn roots when appearing on Johnny Carson or Sesame Street.  Aunt Bubbles influenced many artists such as Susan Graham.

For all the dazzle of Beverly Sills’ career on stage, her life had its share of heartache. In 1956, she met and married Peter Greenough. Their two children, Muffy and Bucky, were both born with birth defects.  Aunt Bubbles was always warm and hopeful.

Beverly Sills received many prestigious awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and, in 1985, the Kennedy Center Honors Award for her lasting contribution to the performing arts. Her friend, comedienne Carol Burnett, praised the opera star during the celebration.  “She made opera come alive with character, drama, and humor,” Burnett said. “And she taught a new audience to love an old art form and along the way, we all fell in love with her.”