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A hatch of late Mayflies.
Citta
Veteran
On a rare afternoon of having ' no deeds to do no promises to keep ' I wandered by the river.
I sat and watched various varieties of geese and ducks, then a pair of swans with three cygnets sailed by..the breeze blew across from Yellow Iris's , three or more weeks later than usual due to the cold late Spring . Their golden hues glimpsed through the sturdy long green leaves.
Then Mayflies began to hatch..also delayed by the cold weather, to become in actuality Juneflies..
These are extraordinary creatures. They live for a number or years underwater until eventually merging as adults which take to the air above the ponds or streams or rivers where they have spent their time as nymphs.
These adults are born without mouthparts or an alimentary tract..they do not need to feed. They live just one day as adults. Their sole aim is to breed and then to lay eggs to produce the next generation..all in one day.
It is an exercise in imagination to visualise their adult existence...no food to seek, no liquid to drink, just one aim, to find a mate.
What if they are born on a day of showery rain ? To these light-bodied creatures who are unable to break the surface tension of water having too little mass, water is a solid. So great spheres of solid matter will be tumbling past you, and as you live for one day only even a short shower will continue for the duration of much of your adult life.. But because of your flying ability you will experience raindrops as slowly moving and will be able to move among them..
A loud sound will physically propel you sideways and will be felt as shockwaves going on for several of your hours.
And all the time an all consuming need to find a mate. If you are a male you will after sucessful mating drift to your death.
If female you will drop the eggs which you emerge with, and which are now fertilised over a body of water...and then die...
This is your reality. Your cosmos.
I sat and watched various varieties of geese and ducks, then a pair of swans with three cygnets sailed by..the breeze blew across from Yellow Iris's , three or more weeks later than usual due to the cold late Spring . Their golden hues glimpsed through the sturdy long green leaves.
Then Mayflies began to hatch..also delayed by the cold weather, to become in actuality Juneflies..
These are extraordinary creatures. They live for a number or years underwater until eventually merging as adults which take to the air above the ponds or streams or rivers where they have spent their time as nymphs.
These adults are born without mouthparts or an alimentary tract..they do not need to feed. They live just one day as adults. Their sole aim is to breed and then to lay eggs to produce the next generation..all in one day.
It is an exercise in imagination to visualise their adult existence...no food to seek, no liquid to drink, just one aim, to find a mate.
What if they are born on a day of showery rain ? To these light-bodied creatures who are unable to break the surface tension of water having too little mass, water is a solid. So great spheres of solid matter will be tumbling past you, and as you live for one day only even a short shower will continue for the duration of much of your adult life.. But because of your flying ability you will experience raindrops as slowly moving and will be able to move among them..
A loud sound will physically propel you sideways and will be felt as shockwaves going on for several of your hours.
And all the time an all consuming need to find a mate. If you are a male you will after sucessful mating drift to your death.
If female you will drop the eggs which you emerge with, and which are now fertilised over a body of water...and then die...
This is your reality. Your cosmos.
0
Comments
Freaky, isn't it??
I love to think of it that way... their lifetime is just one day - our lifetime, in proportion to the age of our galaxy - is probably even less......
Sequoias...there before we came, there after we'll go.....
perspectives are mind-blowing.