Out on a walk, my dog pointed out this little bee fly on the sidewalk.
I had my camera with me so I took a couple shots with the macro setting. That's when I noticed it was missing a wing.
It looked like it had been torn off, probably a narrow escape from a bird.
I don't know much about flies, but my understanding is that the majority of their lives are spent in maggot form, and that once they pupate, their lifespan as a fly is only a day or two. That would mean this fly, whether or not it was missing a wing, was not long for this world. It is fascinating and puzzling that nature would create such an elaborate, beautiful, ornate little creature, only to give it a couple of days to fly around on this earth. But time is all relative. And time is impermanent. As a creative, I make my own little things of wonder through music, art, photos, writing. Like this little evolutionary marvel, all of these things I create will one day expire. I, an incredible contraption of meat and fluids and bones and consciousness, will also expire. Time is as precious and fleeting as this little life. I hope that I am making the best of it, and I hope that this bee fly was able to make the best of it, too.