Mayfly

Recently I wrote about a morning of fishing with my father. Aside from the bliss of spending time in peace on the river, the trip held additional importance. Late May into June is a special time of year. It is when the Mayfly hatch.

I must confess, I knew little about these creatures until Dad told me about them. Their life is intriguing, because they live only a few hours out of water. They might make a day, and only the luckiest will live any longer.

It is a simple life. Hatch, mate, lays eggs, die. Once airborne they do not eat – indeed it is impossible, as they lose their functioning mouthparts. All the eating is done in the nymph stage underwater, and that energy is conserved for later.

Before they take flight, they may have spent months, or even years, in their nymph form. But as the water warms in the Spring, they begin to change, first into a flightless transition stage, following which they finally take to the air. Many thousands may take-off in any given hour, and these ‘hatches’ can be spectacular. For anglers, it is the perfect time to catch trout.

Those not into fishing may wonder why I am writing about a fly – one of the lowliest organisms to grace this earth, for as far back as 300 million years.

---

It was early in the day, but with the warm weather the Mayfly were already hatching. As flies go they are quite large, perhaps an inch in length. And, as flies go, they really are quite beautiful. Their lace-like wings are set upright over a light tan body, the tail of which gives rise to three long, eyelash-like projections.

I didn’t know how pretty a fly could be until one landed on my father’s shirt. Managing to snap a quick photo with my phone, I could see why these ancient creatures are held in such wonder and mystique. However, as I stared at it, I was struck not just by the aesthetic, but what we can learn.

Though we live far, far longer than the Mayfly, in terms of geological time our moment on this planet is incredibly brief. When we look at our life in terms of earth’s history it is but a mere speck - a blip. Somebody recently said something that stuck with me:

“As we age, the days get longer, but the years get shorter”.

To those with children, this may particularly resonate. It’s cliché, but life is short.

And though the Mayfly ‘lives’, in its truest sense, for only a day or so, it is no less important than any other animal. It is an indispensable component of the fragile ecosystem in which it resides. It reminds us that no matter how small or insignificant we may feel, we all have a purpose – a role to play in this life.

It is amazing how something so small can make us feel so irrelevant, but so important at the same time.

---

I sat on the grassy bank, the warm sun on my back, and I watched these beautiful things taking flight like upward-rising snowflakes.

Those that had already lived, fell back down, some to be eaten by the trout.

A circle of life in a moment. Short, simple, but no less important.