Dancing Leaf: Summerton, SC

"You want to see the most beautiful thing I've ever filmed?"

Thus begins the famous scene from American Beauty where the character of Ricky shares his footage of the plastic bag dancing in a swirling wind.

I was reminded of it while walking a trail that skirted the edge of Lake Marion in the Santee National Wildlife Refuge in Summerton, SC.

A leaf was spinning in the air right in the middle of the trail. Dangling from a long, near-transparent strand of a spider's silk.

It was one of those natural moments you pine for when you're traveling. The bird chirps. The shadowplay on the ground.

In the movie, Ricky goes on to explain how the video of the bag helps him remember that, "sometimes there's so much beauty in the world." I won't bow out tritefully and say I had the same thought. But I did think this was pretty cool.