metamorphosis of a critter

OK, so we're sitting on the deck Wednesday afternoon (yeah, I know, the dates on the camera were WRONGO!) and this bug crawled out of the ground and across the grass. So, being the curious bunch that we are, I grabbed a stick, had it crawl up it, and placed it on the deck so we could examine it a little closer. It was weird! The shell was hard, and he had claws! We then put him in a planter so we could watch and see what he did. As the day goes on, we notice that he's shedding his skin. As he came out of the original skin, the thing grew and grew! He was 3 times his original size (nice, I'm assuming it's a he!). And...he grew wings. Wing span of oh, let's say 8" (really, about 1" but he looked huge!) He hung around until Thursday morning, when we last observed him. Sometime during the day, he flew away. Hmmmm....wonder where he went! We were hoping not inside the cottage, as we kept the doors wide open for the dogs. It would be a shame to have to kill him (which would definitely happen if he went inside!) after watching him evolve! **Thanks to Jack "the bug man" Ball, the bug has been identified as a cicada!**