Dan, If you are interested in parking lot designs and are ever in Tennessee, be sure to check out our local Wally World lot. I usually have to back up at least a few times just to navigate around the 135 degree bends in the tight lanes, and the seemingly random spacing of the paths in between lanes always makes it interesting. There are very few unpaved area in the lot, but a few are used to transition between the grade changes, in what used to be a relatively level lot. You might also want to visit the Lowes across the street. Some rows of parking spaces are terminated with really short paths in between about every set of three rows. These short paths run parallel to the main path, and connects to it somewhere along the short paths. Luckily both the short paths and the main path are big enough that you can swing around to go in either direction (as long as no cars are coming) to go either way when exiting from one of the short paths. The entrance to the Home Depot lot down the street enters the side of the lot, so every vehicle that enters the lot travels across the lot by driving across all the parking spaces. No one every uses the road at the top of the lot, because you would have to drive way out of the way and it's easier just to drive cautiously across all the parking spaces. At least the Lowes lot has a few small trees. With Luck, they will last long enough to double in size before they die or get cut down.

http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa373/kmbrake/IMG_0578.jpg http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa373/kmbrake/IMG_0577.jpg

How does the top look? That wound looks like it was from last year. The wood is weathered grey and the callus tissue has begun to heal over. Maybe a buck rub, maybe a frost crack..., in any case it looks nasty but if the top looks healthy it will probably eventually (after a few years) heal over. Do not apply any paint or pruning sealer or anything. If the top is showing signs of stress, such as branches dying back, I would probably just replace it, especially if it is a specimen tree in your yard.

Leaf shape looks more like a sugar maple (Acer saccharum) than it does a Norway maple (Acer platanoides). The light colored foliage is most likely due to the sunlight hitting foliage at that camera angle, not necessarily to any specific leaf color.