At the beginning of every spring I promise myself that I will notice how slow it takes for the trees to fill out with green leaves. I will notice which plants bloom first. How long it takes the colors to change.

And I do notice. For the first few days I track the change. And then suddenly: Spring has arrived.

Regardless of what promises I make myself, in my mind– spring has no middle, only a beginning and full arrival. 2 months fly by and it is like I wasn’t even watching. Like I didn’t bike down the same road every single day, seeing the same exact changing view.

This type of change is kind of incredible, and I think it is the type of change that life is full of– slow change. Change that is so slow we do not track it until well after it has happened and we are looking in retrospect wondering when/how it even happened.

All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you. The only lasting truth is change.

Octavia Butler