Photo-A-Day Challenge

Expect the Unexpected

Third Week in September

A wonderful gift may not be wrapped as you expect. ― J. L. Huie

Day 1

The highway in the cover shot was underwater just days ago. It was used as a lazy river by some Philadelphia residents in inflatable tubes. I didn’t expect the flood and I didn’t expect everything to get back to normal so quickly, a pleasant surprise. Also surprising, my commute doesn’t seem like such a bother when I think about how lucky we are that there wasn’t more damage. My attitude has shifted a little from, I have to travel this road every day, to I get to travel this road every day. (I think it is unrealistic to expect this feeling to last, but it is nice for now!)

Day 2

This unexpected family of sunflowers was like a street-level pop of sunlight that made me smile.

Day 3

I took my walk a little later than expected. I didn’t plan to experience any photo ops but, here was one. Seeing my neighbor’s lights at night brings back happy memories of friends and family. I took this photo to remind myself to put my lights on my deck again next year. Maybe even for a nice fall evening gathering!

Day 4

Sometimes annual plants reseed and surprise me. This one popped up to wink unexpectedly from the middle of my mint plants.

Day 5

Sometimes when I am driving between schools for work, I eat my lunch in my car so I feel comfortable being unmasked. Today, I looked over and saw a huge grasshopper right outside my window. I usually would have gotten out and taken more close-up photos. I haven’t seen a grasshopper that big in a long time. I am so glad I didn’t, when it jumped to the next branch it was so powerful, it startled me. If I was closer I probably would have fallen on the ground.

Day 6

I usually see the sunrise in the morning as soon as I step out my front door. This was a very gray day. It was light but I couldn’t see any sign of the sunrise. Unexpectedly as I was driving, I looked over and the clouds had shifted. There it was, the sun emerging from the gray. It turned out to be a bright and beautiful day!

Day 7

On the way home from work I often see the sunset. On another gray day, I looked over and there was no sign of the sunset. But, what I did see were some purplish-gray and yellowish-orange very tall weeds. Those are some of the same colors as I expected to see in the sunset, just in a different medium, I thought. I prefer the sunset, but nature was putting on a beautiful display in another way, I guess that is ok.

Final Thoughts

I thought a lot this week about expectations. Sometimes expectations get in the way as we focus on what we wanted and sometimes what we don’t have instead of fully experiencing what we do have.

Thanks for reading. I hope everyone expects the unexpected and enjoys whatever comes their way!

Thanks to Dennett for starting this challenge. See the rules here if you want to join:

Thanks to all of the others that have joined.

Erika Burkhalter/Eileen Vorbach Collins/Anne Bonfert/Sasha Meyer/Tracy Aston/Lisa Bolin/Juan O. Aguilera/David Wade Chambers/June Nguyen/Mia Verita/Susan Alison/LensAfield/Barbara Radisavljevic/Diana Lotti/Barbara Dalton/Kim Zuch/Sandra Barrett/Shruthi Sundaram