Do you like bugs? Obviously, with a business name like Cicada Design, I do, at least most of them (cockroaches: no thanks).
When I was in elementary school, my sisters graduated high school and moved on to pursue their college degrees. I missed them terribly and would write letters to them on my parents’ electric typewriter. One sister studied plant and soil science, and the other studied entomology. That’s right, she earned her bachelor’s degree in bugs.
You must understand how cool my sisters were. I wanted to be just like them. They drove classic Mustangs, were great athletes, and were so creative. Today, not much has changed except their cars and perhaps some of their interests. They are still cool. So, back to the early 90s: I had my own butterfly net and would walk around the field with my oldest sister as she collected specimens for class. I learned to enjoy insects for all their various purposes on this planet.
But the cicada—wow, the cicada is extra special to me. For a long time, like 20 years, I felt like I had all this creativity that was blocked from coming out and being expressed. I wanted to make art and play piano and struggled to eke out a painting or a song (until now). I gave up on both for a long time, but the desire to create never faded. I also felt like I was a late bloomer.
Compared to other friends, who had risen in the ranks at their corporate jobs, or started families long ago, I felt like I was “behind.” One day, I had an epiphany. There is no such thing as a late bloomer; in the world of gardening, flowers bloom when they are supposed to. The layered bloom times are the great joy of growing flowers. You really can have flowers all year, even in winter!
Likewise, the long larval lifecycle of a cicada stands out against the shorter cycles of its butterfly and even housefly cousins. Some broods of cicada take 17 or 19 years to gestate underground! But that is how they were made. When they come out of the ground, they cling to trees and molt into the adult stage, and that’s when the singing begins. The males vibrate their little bodies and sing these loud mating calls, attracting females to their romantic tree houses. After mating, the females lay eggs, and the cycle begins again, with the older generation dying off and making way for the new. It took a long time for them to develop underground, yet that makes their love songs so much louder. They are small but mighty, delicate yet powerful enough to prune mature adult trees, aerate the soil, and even in their death, add needed nitrogen to the soil.
Cicada Design celebrates that long preparation period and the song of revival that comes from within it. Cicadas remind me that I'm not behind, I am made for this time; a time where more than ever it is crucial to sing, to make art, to pass on knowledge, to run a small business, and to be hospitable.
Are you with me? If so, get excited, because you are made for this time, too!
Bloom and grow, friend, and enjoy the season you are in.