“God in his wisdom invented the fly,
And then forgot to tell us why.”
Ogden Nash
“Flies, strangely enough, were considered good luck charms..... It was also lucky to see a fly in a home at Christmas. Why? Because, it was reasoned, flies are killed off by cold weather, and so any that are still alive in midwinter must be exceptionally lucky ones. The hope was that some of this fly luck would rub off.”
“These folk beliefs embrace not all biological flies but just a few familiar ones, notably the ubiquitous housefly.”
(Peter Marren)
My mother was quite content to let one or two flies live out the winter in the living room. If there was just one it was known as Josephine. If two they were Joseph and Josephine. They would circle around the ceiling and land on the big glass lampshade. Quite whether she thought they were lucky or was simply being kind to them I’m not sure.
These are fly footprints on a steamed up car window - photo taken many years ago on transparency film.
Too Many Poems
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