Season Liberally

Summers in Maryland conspire to keep you housebound. If it isn't the heat, the humidity, or the frequent storms, it's the damn mosquitoes that prevent you from opening the door to the outside world. These hot, humid, housebound days can lead to some serious wanderlust, and this past week I've been yearning to be by a waterfall.

I've always had a weird thing for waterfalls. It could be hereditary, as my mother grew up near and often played (sometimes dangerously) at Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge in our home state, Oregon. I spent my growing-up years in northern California, and we had our own waterfall in Mill Valley, Cascade Falls (so small and insignificant that it didn't even make the list of Top Seven Waterfalls in Marin County). It only seems natural to me now that my favorite example of American architecture is Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. What else could it be?

What is it about Mother Nature's water feature that intrigues us so? It could be the soothing sound of running water, which seems to be the main reason why so many homeowners try to recreate waterfalls and fountains in their backyards (although the tinkling sounds of most backyard water features make me run for the nearest bathroom). It might be the cooling effect of the water, or its representation of the power of nature, or that water in motion attracts birds, butterflies, and other creatures looking for a respite from unrelenting dryness. Or it could just be that waterfalls are beautiful, and that's enough.

Whatever it is, the mysterious attraction of waterfalls has pulled humankind to them for thousands of years, and many people have adopted the hobby of Waterfall Hunting--seeking out the most obscure and hard-to-find falls, and then capturing them on film, or ideally, on video (and I suspect some just guard the locations and keep them secret, fearing that too many visitors might spoil them). Waterfall enthusiasts worldwide have posted their finds, both common and out-of-the-way, on websites like the Waterfalls Webring, which includes links to the World Waterfall Database and Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest. It gives those of us who are trapped indoors by heat or cold or lack of funds a place to go and appreciate the beauty of waterfalls, but it also provides the information we need to actually get out and see the falls when we can.

I made the mistake of assuming that when I moved from the west coast to Maryland, I had given up the chance to see waterfalls anywhere but on the internet. I'm glad I was wrong, because as I discovered recently, Maryland has beautiful waterfalls (there's even a handy book). And so does Pennsylvania and Virginia and West Virginia and on and on...you just have to look. You don't have to wait for that once-in-a-lifetime trip to Yosemite or Yellowstone to find a waterfall to ogle--there might be one right in your own neighborhood. When the heat and humidity of my East Coast summer subside and the mosquitoes have been sated by some other unlucky soul's blood, I plan to pack a picnic and find me a waterfall to enjoy. I hope you can, too.