Looking off the side of the road, sure enough, a mature black bear was picking its way through the scrub in search of food. We pull off the side of the road, roll down the window, and start taking pictures of him. 

I'm a fan of trees.  I've written before that they are the only organisms firmly rooted in the soil and grow into the heavens, yet they occupy the same space as we do.  When you take the time to study trees, you'll notice that each individual is much different than even trees of the same species, and the variety of trees that exist on our planet is even more diverse and, frankly, mind-boggling.  From the time a seed spouts, each drop of rain and each puff of wind influences h