All in vein

Watched a lightning storm outside my window yesterday. My son took the opportunity to read aloud from a young reader’s science book on lightning. I learned that lightning is no wider than  your big toe and it’s caused be a cloud’s desire to rid itself of energy.

But it’s the form of the lightning that I find fascinating. It often consists of one main vein with several smaller branches emanating from the main, or perhaps feeders stretching to the main. It reminded me of photos from space that were taken by the space station astronauts — the rivers and inlets that were photographed bear the same shape, as do some of the mountain ranges. Roots have the same structure. Our circulatory systems have an identical structure, as do veins in leaves, and branches, too. All have a connection to water. All seem to mark a flow of vital energy.

A gallery of lightning images: http://www.genesisfineart.com.au/lightning_gallery/lightning_strike_05.html#IMAGE

Astronauts’ views of earth — scroll down to see the rivers, lava flow, and ranges: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/recent_scenes_from_the_iss.html