Punctuated equilibrium

We went away for the Easter weekend, and when we got home a scant three days later, all the leaves were out. We went from, like, nothing to solid green in a few days. Suddenly we can't see our nearest neighbors, and the trees feel a lot closer. Even though this happens every year, it always comes as a surprise when, instead of gradually fading from winter to spring, or from fall into winter, everything happens all at once. You're just walking along, minding your own business, and suddenly wham -- you get mugged by springtime. In the blink of any eye you have nothing to wear because you've (ahem) outgrown your shorts and all your other seasonals are in trunks in the attic. Suddenly the grass needs to be cut, and you're thinking, "When did that happen?"

How can a life that seems so constant be so surprising? Of course changes are happening all the time . . . but silently, like a cat creeping through spring grass before the pounce.