...if you look at it a certain way. Its branches plot the effects of the genetic code of that particular tree, modified by weather, environment (this one, being underneath a power line, has several amputations--and you can see places where it stubbornly continued to push on in the forbidden direction, despite the amputation), and accident. And if you squint, you can see the lines and points of a graph, obscure to us, but if you could learn to read it, then you'd know something.

The oddity floating to the right was the beginning of another drawing whose space this one usurped. But I got so used to it that it has to stay.

Finally, I'm very grateful that I got the chance to use the word "usurp". It's a funny word, that starts sleekly and ends with a belch. But it always makes me think of syrup when I hear it, which tends to short-circuit whatever was being communicated to me, since it rarely involved any actual references to syrup. Come to think of it, only a very tiny percentage, a very tiny percentage, of my conversations ever get around to syrup. In fact, its appearance here will probably bump up the numbers to misleading levels, should anyone ever do a report on the subject matter of my conversations with the world. And hey, I know Dr. Research, so it's not out of the realm of possibility.