Saturday, May 08, 2010
This and that fly

Ok so I was sitting in the bathroom one while my human prepped herself for the day to come and I noticed a fly bouncing off the mirrors. When I was a pup this would have been too much to bear and I would have chased after it, likely leaving total devastation in my wake given the small confines of the bathroom. I'd like to think I've matured a bit since then and now leave most the bug chasing to Atlantis.

So I just sat there and watched the fly dart over to one mirror and bounce off, then turn around and head for the other mirror only to have the same end result. It's almost like watching the ball at a ping pong tournament, or watching the wiper blades on the van during rainy day of errands. The fly just kept bouncing off one mirror, than the other; back and forth over and over again.

This got me to thinking, as the astute intellectual that I am, just what must that fly be thinking? Does it not feel the pain of impact, repeatedly? Does it think that this time it's gonna get somewhere new?

I know you are thinking I've lost my mind but bear with me a moment. Could it be that this fly sees the mirror as a new place to go to, another room, possibly one with a force field up which prevents entry? Ok that's just silly, I'll admit to that. Perhaps in the mere second is takes for the fly to travel between mirrors it forgets the previous failed attempt to get through and resulting thud. Can a fly's attention span really be that short? If so, how do they survive?

Maybe it's just panicking and trying desperately to get out without realizing the error in the flight plan. Acting on instinct could be plausible. However with instincts like that I'm sure glad they aren't any bigger than they are or they'd do lots more damage than I ever could.

As I sat there and watched I also started to wonder, how many more times can it hit face first in to the mirror before it passes out or just drops dead? I was starting to keep count, and then suddenly I was jolted from my daze as my human whacked the fly with a fly swatter. So now the world may never know the answer to that little mystery. Gee thanks mom.

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