Expectation

Hummingbirds seem to particularly like Mexican Bush Sage. We have several shrubs in our yard and it is a daily wonder to see the birds swooping in, flitting from stalk to stalk, and then zooming away again, up into our oak tree. There is a particular branch they like to sit on, just off our front deck. I love to watch them.

Whenever I see Mexican Bush Sage, I look for hummingbirds. Yesterday, walking through town, I saw this - a hummingbird sitting still in the shrub. I thought there was no way s/he would stay still long enough for me to get out my phone and access the camera! But as it turned out, I got two decent shots and stood for 30 seconds or so and walked away and the bird was still there. Strange.

Just as I have come to expect hummingbirds around these shrubs, I expect hummingbirds not to sit still for very long. So I wasn’t surprised to see it, but I was surprised by its behavior.

So what I am thinking about today is expectation. How does it serve us, and how does it do us disservice? When something unexpected happens, are we delighted or disturbed? I know it depends to some extent on whether we consider the unexpected good or bad. Checking our reactions, though, is never a bad thing. It reminds us that sometimes, our reactions are all we can control.