“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius
Some of my favorite posts on Instagram are ones where someone finds something unexpected. It’s amazing when I travel to different places how there is always that surprise that we can find. It can be on the side of the road, in the middle of a hike, or just come out of nowhere in the middle of a drive. For me, surprises are part of the adventure. It’s amazing how sometimes even when I ride my bicycle to places in Charlotte that I have visited many times, I still find something new or something I might have missed before. In order to find the unexpected, we have to be willing to find beauty in unexpected places. One of my favorite posts from last year is when I was riding my bike along one of the greenways in Charlotte, I found this set of abandoned cars on the side of the trail. It looks like they had been there for years. At the time I was out riding, I hadn’t found anything to take a picture of, and I found this. The unexpected finds are the best because being able to photograph them is an added bonus.
Last summer, while we were visiting the mountains in Bryson City, North Carolina, I was walking from our campsite to this old house on the side of the road. I found this lily blooming in the middle of these weeds on the side of the road. My goal at the time was to photograph this old house that we passed while coming back from town. I found this surprise just sitting there on the side of the road. I tried to capture a photo of the butterfly that was on it when I walked up, but he flew away before I had a chance to get a photo of him.
What is an unexpected surprise that you have come across before? Let me know in the comments.
Through Griffin's Lens 
I have found many quirky things in my travels. When we did a cycling trip for our honeymoon over 20 years ago through Portugal, Spain and France we saw so many things that car drivers would miss. On our local rail trail sometimes, it might be a wombat or a random tree laden with juicy red apples!
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Before the whole Covid thing started I rarely rode my bike, but now I try to ride at least once a week. I have seen some pretty cool stuff that I had missed for years because I just drove by it.
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My bike riding is on hold after a nasty horse-riding accident last year. I am much better, but I haven’t been game to get on a bike again. However, walking provides that space for exploring your surroundings. I loved my macro lens during lockdown.
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I used mine a lot. I had nothing better to do!
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