A long time ago I saw my first flash flood, after years of being in the Southwest. It was pretty scrawny -- but still impressive if you think of what it represents.
Recently it happened again, except that it was even tinier. The onset of running water was only a quarter inch deep. But it was fascinating! I walked it downstream, at a rate of maybe one mile per hour.
I tried to play games with it. Could it be photographed? I looked at it from above: boring. Then I tried to get light to glance off of it: no good. Perhaps if the camera was lowered almost to the ground, and it focussed on the oncoming 'wave front', it might have looked a little bit impressive. But any still photograph would have missed the drama.
Where are the photographers when you need them?!
I played the game of guessing which way its downstream-most finger would extend. It proved impossible. That finger seemed like a sentient creature, probing, invading, and choosing its next victim.
There is such great use of this slow-moving Malevolence as a metaphor. The inability to guess the future direction of such a simple thing makes you humble about investing in financial markets or extrapolating historical trends in a society.
( 4 extra credit points go to any commenter who identifies the perfect short book by Tolstoy to look for a metaphor that matches this post.)
Recently it happened again, except that it was even tinier. The onset of running water was only a quarter inch deep. But it was fascinating! I walked it downstream, at a rate of maybe one mile per hour.
I tried to play games with it. Could it be photographed? I looked at it from above: boring. Then I tried to get light to glance off of it: no good. Perhaps if the camera was lowered almost to the ground, and it focussed on the oncoming 'wave front', it might have looked a little bit impressive. But any still photograph would have missed the drama.
Where are the photographers when you need them?!
I played the game of guessing which way its downstream-most finger would extend. It proved impossible. That finger seemed like a sentient creature, probing, invading, and choosing its next victim.
There is such great use of this slow-moving Malevolence as a metaphor. The inability to guess the future direction of such a simple thing makes you humble about investing in financial markets or extrapolating historical trends in a society.
( 4 extra credit points go to any commenter who identifies the perfect short book by Tolstoy to look for a metaphor that matches this post.)
Comments
I very much like such observations as you have made here. It's good to remind ourselves of these things.
We're not above nature? What about a dam that blocks the river that would otherwise have a flash flood?