WATERFALL
Prompt - Waterfall : Think of a waterfall you've seen in person or spend some time browsing photos of waterfalls online. Write about the movement, flow, and energy.
The word waterfall conjures a huge variety of images, from the little weirs we have nearby on the Water of Leith, to the power and majesty of Niagara, Victoria, Angel. Both have much in common, and much that is different.
Waterfalls are sections of rivers that drop from one level to another in a (near enough) sheer face, so that the current forces the water over the edge and down to join the lower downstream section. They all create some noise, they all refract light in fascinating patters, they are all worth watching . Some, artificially created by dams, generate power. They are in almost every country in the world, wherever there is high ground and a water source there is a chance that a waterfall, of some degree or other, will appear somewhere along the course of the river.
The smaller waterfalls are pretty, especially on a sunny day, often a feeding ground for birds, and an indication of the volume of water coming through on a daily basis. As the size increases so does the ability to impress, to create a sense of awe at the power and art of nature. To the light dancing across the surface of the falling water, highlighting the disturbed and swirling recipient it dives into, is the refractions from clouds of spray, the sheer weight and volume too much for the water below and sending some of what it has taken back into the air in droplets that can soak the onlooker, obscure the view, and create an atmospheric curtain that adds mystery to the excitement.
Clearly there are huge differences between the tiny and the huge, but the most notable is probably the noise. A big waterfall is not only visually impressive, but audibly as well. A shooshing roar that never lets up, never need pause for breath, never hesitates or changes. Even the winds cannot drown it out, it a voice across the ages. The water falls at increasing pace from a great height, crashing into the seething maelstrom below, whether or not anyone comes to see it, or hear, whatever the weather, whatever the time of year. It is one of the wonders of the world.
(Written on the day of my first root canal treatment, so I wasn't feeling very coherent...)
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