We stopped in Wichita Falls and took a side trip to the “falls.” I grew up driving through the town on the way to Colorado. I remember wondering, “Why is this place called Wichita Falls?” There were no falls. I mostly knew it because it had an old fashioned Arby’s, shaped like a conestoga wagon. It was one of the few place we stopped to eat roast beef sandwiches and potato cakes. Over 100 years ago, a flood swept away the geographic formation in the river that had cause the water to fall a short distance.
In the mid 80’s, the city fathers decided they were embarrassed by the name without the accompanying water feature so they created a park, installed water pumps, large rocks and turned on the switch, instant waterfall. It is filled with mud and silt, so it looks like the chocolate river in Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. I think they made the right choice. Whenever we travel through, we always take notice. Sometimes the switch is off and the water is not running, but usually we get a smile from looking at the water.
I took a picture of the falls. There are two ways to look at it. A camera sees it as a moment in time (see the left half of the picture), The water droplets are frozen in midair. The streams of water loose all their action. They are suspended, frozen, unchanging. That, however, is not the way we experience a waterfall. It is urgent, flowing and active. Each second you stand by a waterfall it is changing. The sound is thrilling. The mist coming off the splash zone swirls around you. It is an assault on all of the senses. I changed some setting on my photo and it produced the time-lapse effect (see the right half of the picture). The edited photo gets some of the spirit of the water. The water looks more like a curtain. Neither picture gets the expereince of a waterfall.
That is the way of lots of pictures. I have taken them of sunsets but the field of view is never large enough. It is only a sliver and never captures the overwhelming awe of a sunset. My Grand Canyon pictures look like a ditch. Pictures of the ocean seem lifeless. Some of my landscapes feel like smudges. A camera cannot capture an experience. It can be a reminder, but never the real thing.
It is graduation season. Familys gather and take photos as kids are handed a diploma. The pictures cannot possibly contain the years of prayers, the nights of studying, the highs and the lows of tests and evaluations. Yes, it is a moment. It is also the end of a long journey. Pray for the graduates and the parents. Its a big moment filled with emotion and its is the edge of a great transition. Pray for students to handle the next big steps with grace and faith.