In an everyday kitchen, a few grains of uncooked rice are shaken into a salt shaker filled with fine table salt.
Immediately afterward, the shaker appears unchanged. The salt flows out as usual when tilted, with rice grains occasionally visible among the white crystals.
Weeks slip by. The shaker is used at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It sits on the table or shelf, looking exactly the same day after day.
Months pass with the changing seasons. Humidity rises and falls unnoticed. The routine of shaking salt onto food continues without interruption.
One humid day, the shaker is lifted. Salt streams out evenly and smoothly, free of any clumps or sticking.
This steady flow emerged after the long stretch of time, when the shaker showed no hint of difference from before.