'the circulatory system of the earth'

'across continents, the network of waterways resembles the circulatory system of a body. and in fact, that is the role that lake and river systems perform. water that runs off after rain or from melting snow or from plant roots accumulates in ditches and creeks, which carry it to the rivers draining into lakes or the oceans, where it evaporates back into the atmosphere. patterns of rootlets, roots and branches; rivulets, creeks and rivers; veins and capillaries in living tissue--they all reflect the same physical realities and bind us all together in the earth's vital processes.'

source: ds, tsb, p. 88