13 Ways of Looking at a Road Trip: 7, Leaves

Man has created some lovely dwellings--some soul-stirring literature. He has done much to alleviate physical pain. But he has not ... created a substitute for a sunset, a grove of pines, the music of the winds, the dank smell of the deep forest, or the shy beauty of a wildflower.

--Harvey Broome, naturalist, on a roadside marker in North Carolina

As a frame, from the Appalachian Trail.

As shadow and definition, from Highway 441 in Tennessee.

As high as they can get, on the Konza Prairie.

As wild and quiet in the wind, at Sandhills State Park.

As destruction during a storm, at my grandmother's house.

As sparse and striving for green, off the highway in Oklahoma.

As expanse and relief, in Houston.

As a view, outside hotel window in Biloxi.

As a singular entity against the storm, on the beach in Biloxi.