Day 3: C is for Cicada

I was chatting with my Mom about today's letter, C, and how I had thought about doing a centipede but after looking at photos decided I couldn't stomach it... So she suggested Cicada... More appropriate than she knew!

Today would have been a birthday for a dear friend of mine. A few years ago we were out walking and she was saying how surprised she was that I was so squeamish and yet so "into" nature, we had a small chuckle about it. Shortly after that we saw in the road in front of us a large-ish bug... She poked at it and said it was a dead cicada, and I remarked how I had never seen one close up... So I picked it up, and bravely held it close to my face squinting at its wings... And it moved and I shrieked like a girl (yes, I am one, but still...) and involuntarily hurled it into the woods. Sigh. My friend was laughing so hard she was literally sitting in the road. This is why I never became a naturalist.

Anyway, cicada is, no surprise, about rebirth and longevity. It's also about coming out of your shell, and expressing yourself authentically.

Painting new-to-me insects is proving to be a good challenge!