Colleen called me out to see a cicada molting. We'd certainly heard them before, seen their empty shells, and also live specimens occasion in Toronto and teeming in trees in Korea. The shells I've seen are brown and the live ones bluish black, so I was quite surprised to see this vibrant, green-orange-pink creature frozen in a backwards dive. It twitched slightly and vibrated in short bursts. The wings slowly unfurled, looking fresh, new surfaces catching air for the first time. We wondered whether it was aware of us, perhaps thinking, "Crap, I feel vulnerable."

Vulnerable, yes. But also amazing!