We have these beech trees in back of the house that seem to have a rather short life cycle.
They grow quickly, but are quite breakable and generally once they reach a certain height it's only a matter of time before a wind comes along and knocks them down.

This is a shot of a piece of trunk that's been laying there for some time; the insides have all rotted away and all that's left is this wrinkled bark.

I also liked this leaf shot from today: http://www.pbase.com/corvidae/image/35418250
But I thought "Who wants to look at yet another picture of a leaf for the PaD?"
This leaf is actually one of the ones perched on the bark in this picture and part of it can be seen in the top of the frame.