A fly navigates the rim of my coffee cup mug. The mug is half-full and the rim is stained with some dried coffee and there is a fleck of granola the fly is after. I wave away the fly and wipe the rim and have a sip.
The rim is stained with coffee again and the fly comes back. Another fly hoovers the inside surface of my cereal bowl, which looks empty to me but not to the fly which is going after bits of various antique cereals AS BIG AS ITS HEAD.
Then the first fly disappears from the rim of the coffee mug and I wonder whether there was always only one fly, except I saw them flying together in oddball fly formation, just a minute ago.
Then I finish my coffee and run upstairs and get dressed because I have to drive my daughter to work.
Well, run. Walk. Tiptoe. Other people are sleeping.
Well, I was going to, but then she comes into the kitchen and says she is riding her bike. I pour more coffee.
You saw two flies together? I don’t think I’ve seen more than ten flies in the last twenty years, let alone two together. Nor gotten more than five mosquito bites in the same time period. Very few flies or mosquitos in Buffalo, NY; ditto where I live in southern CA. I don’t know what’s going on with the flies and mosquitos, but everyone is noticing that the bees are disappearing.
bees are disappearing here too. no one mentions wasps, i have seen fewer of those too, but people say thez are growing more aggressive.
we have lots of flies, the sort that crawl around your face and come right back when you wave them away. it might have something to do with living in a farming village that still has pigs and horses, although no cows. because we’re near a river, we also have no shortage of mosquitos. lots of ticks too, i hear, although if you stay out of the brush you’re usually okay,