Late yesterday morning a newly emerged cicada caught my attention, clambering up the stem of a rose bush, then waiting for its crumpled wing to straighten up and dry out. It didn't take me long to find its shell, or exoskeleton, pretending to be alive, still clinging to a leaf with its claws. It was split neatly down the back where the cicada had emerged, and was quite empty inside.
This is a periodical cicada, Magicicada, the type that emerges every 13 years. When they come, they seem to appear everywhere, and their song in the daytime is much like a happy buzz saw. I left it and went to lunch, and when I came back about an hour later, the magic was gone, and one wing was laying on the ground, I can only assume that it made a tasty snack for some creature, which seems a pity, after waiting 13 years to see the sky again. A hungry bluejay might have quite another viewpoint, however, delighted to be living at a time of such abundance.
