Surprises are the new normal, and they are not fun. I was about to write a joyous paean to Earth Day and the glories of celebrating the great outdoors, when volcanic ash closed European airports. My flights to a global health summit were cancelled, making me cranky about nature instead. I had just returned from Brazil, where floods disrupted travel in Rio, and mudslides destroyed neighborhoods, following earthquakes in Chile and Haiti. But volcanic ash? Would any company’s scenario planners have imagined a blanket of gray silicate particles covering Europe?