A note from Elke:
This past summer I have found many cicada shells on the ground. They are so beautiful! According to the internet, “the life cycle of a cicada begins with eggs laid in tree branches, which hatch into nymphs that drop to the ground to feed on tree roots for 13 or 17 years. After this long underground period, the nymphs emerge, climb a vertical surface to molt their exoskeletons, and become winged adults. Adult cicadas then mate, lay eggs, and die within about a month.”
Their lives are mostly anticipation I might imagine and then a short crescendo in the sunshine before going back to the earth. I wanted to honor that short time in the 17-second video above. May we see the beauty in every thing, every body, all around us in this lifetime and honor the death that is happening in nature right now in the Northern Hemisphere. This season and always may we be filled with gratefulness for the gift of life on planet EARTH, who I suspect is the most beautiful of All. Thank you for being here on this Earth with me and Happy Holy Days.