I was sitting out on the balcony enjoying the sun and breeze, drinking coffee and reading. At some point I must have spilled some of my coffee, I hadn't been paying any particular attention to it. When I switched seats because the sun was in my eyes, I noticed a house fly was playing in spilled coffee.
I doubt instant coffee with sugar and whitener is particularly good for humans, I have no idea how fly friendly it is, but he was happily wandering around sucking it up. What made him interesting was that instead of the red-brown his eyes should have been, they were 90% cream with the very centres were white. Instead of the dark carapace, it was flaking and had a strong white sheen. It was either diseased or old.
Considering we're in January and it's not exactly been warm food rotting weather for several months, I can only assume it was a fly of great age. I watched him drink for a while and when I got tired of holding my coffee mug I put it down. When my shadow went over him he paused but then continued drinking. I couldn't decide if it was he couldn't really see anything or if he's got that cantankerous age of 'I survived all sorts of stuff you wouldn't believe, I ain't movin for some stinkin' shadow!" I figure it was probably the former.
It wasn't until I stood and walked in front of him that he stopped and fly back onto the wall away from me. It was like he knew I was there but I didn't really exist until I was visible to the front part of his eyes, the only dark part.
Flies get old and fall apart just like the rest of us. Who knew?
Hehehehe that has made my day!xx Rachel
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