Monday, 22 August 2022

Mayfly Day


Rosemary of Where Five Valleys Meet had an interesting post last week about mayflies and their final "dance" before laying their eggs (click here to read).  David of Travels With Birds also wrote last week about how British mayflies are currently seriously threatened by water pollution and climate change (click here). These posts got me thinking!

One summer many years ago, I spent a day in Gimli, Manitoba, on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, during its annual mayfly (or as we call them here in Canada, fish fly) infestation. MILLIONS of them EVERYWHERE, on every roadway and surface. Not particularly pleasant but a true natural phenomenon.

Mayflies have a notoriously short life span (approximately 24 hours at most). But everything is relative, isn't it, as seen in this beautiful and wise poem which contains a lesson for us all --

MAYFLY DAY
by Jeanne Willis

Here is Mayfly.
It is her first day on earth.
It is also her last.

Mayflies only live for one day.
But is she sad? Not at all.
She is happy to be alive!

This isn't any old day.
This is the best of days.
She lives for each moment.

She sees the world begin.
She hears the crack of dawn.
And bathes in its golden glow.

A billion buds burst open.
All for her!
She tastes their honey.

Mayfly sees eggs hatch.
Babies born.
Lambs learning to stand.

The business of ants.
The dizziness of children . . .
The loveliness of things.

She feels the sun's warm hug.
The kiss of summer rain.
The magic of the rainbow.

It is her wedding day.
Trees throw confetti.
There are games on the lawn.

Breezes blow, bells chime.
Birds sing! She dances
to the music of the universe.

Mayfly lays her eggs.
It is a peaceful night.
The best of nights.

She makes one last wish:
"Little ones, may all your tomorrows
be as perfect as my yesterday!"

Mayfly watches the moon come up
and the stars go out.
And is thankful for her wonderful life.

30 comments:

  1. I remember driving over a bridge on hatch day, through a swarm so thick you could barely see.

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  2. That is a beautiful poem!!!!!!! And the message also here is to "Live LIVE! Life is a banquet...and some poor suckers are starving."

    Some summers we are infested with them too...on everything....but after the poem I will now think differently of them.

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  3. Wistful little poem, eh?

    I don't think I've ever actually seen a mayfly.

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  4. What a beautiful poem. And the whole idea of mayflies does get one thinking.

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  5. I honestly didn't know much about the Mayfly until reading the blog post you linked. WOW.
    The poem is charming!

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  6. A beautiful reminder to adjust one's thinking. Enjoy the time you have because a trout might take it all away!
    E

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  7. I didn't know they only lived a day. Very interesting. But, I do remember once camping when they were so thick we couldn't sit at the picnic table to eat. The swarm was bad. Lovely poem. Thanks for the share.

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  8. "Lambs learning to stand." What a sweet poem filled with magical images.
    Thanks for sharing this.

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  9. Such a wonderful post. I now know a bit about Mayflies. Their life journeys are similar to cicadas that shines for the brief moment after lurking for so long.

    Great post as usual before I rush to work again

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  10. What a lovely poem - make the most of your time here on earth for it is finite.

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  11. Everything has its day, and somethings only one.

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  12. Love the poem!
    And I have never witnessed anything like that. I would freak out. The catholic boy in my would start thinking 'seven plagues'...

    XOXO

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  13. A manifestation of mayflies. A swarm. A huge encounter.
    A miracle of mayflies.

    I heard that when there are that many, you can just scoop them
    and parch toast them and cook them with the rice, polenta,millet, what have you. You can talk about them for years.

    They only live in clean water, or at least clean enough.
    I have never been infested by a mayfly, but they are a fearsome sight when they do this.

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  14. My wife's aunt and uncle lived along the Mississippi in northern Illinois. A few times when we up to visit it was mayfly time. You couldn't walk down the sidewalk without hearing crunch crunch crunch.

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  15. Thank you for the lovely poem and mention Debra - a Mayflies life is ephemeral.

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  16. Thanks for the interesting post and the link to my blog. Both are much appreciated.

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  17. Here's my pedantic comment. The adult mayfly lives only a day (or two?) but the stage before adult, nymph, can live for years in the water.

    Now if the insect has goals and a memory of the past (?), this very short flying in the sun and quick mating would be worse than retirement.

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  18. Here's hoping the lanternfly don't steal the mayfly's thunder. Nice poem.

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  19. Very nice post and poem. Have a great day today.

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  20. What a wonderful poem. In the scheme of things our own lives are as ephemeral. We need to live them the same way.

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  21. What an awesome poem! The mayfly makes the best of the time that she has. A reminder to live in the moment and for each moment.

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  22. Love you for sharing this exceptional post and exquisite poem dear Debra!

    I feel what matters most is quality of life we live not quantity.

    Moments are her days.
    Days are my moments :)

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  23. That is a really sweet poem!

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  24. do we have those in Texas? but I love that poem.

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