Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. This is Forest Stories.
I'm the Poet in the Forest, a children's series that I pinned out
in the nineteen nineties. Now, none of it would be possible if it
wasn't for this forest right here in South Arlotte, North Carolina. I talk
about it so much that I thought maybe it's time that you get to know
what has inspired me for thirty years. Thanks for being a part of the
conversation. Welcome back to the forest. The cave, Yeah, we have
a cave. It's on the opposite side of Heartbreak Hill. It's what's created
when the rain is coming down and then it digs deep into the side of
the hill, just like any other cave, the pictorial caves out in Montana,
where I spend a lot of time. That's how they were where the
waterfall is, and it just kind of eats away at the rocks and the
dirt below with the cave. I remember when I first came into the forest
in nineteen ninety two, the teenagers would hang out inside the cave, inside
this forest there just to talk, play, you know, just be kids.
But these days, as the forested area has aged, not too many
children or even kids or even adults go near the cave. Actually, I'd
be kind of afraid to go into the cave, but I know that during
one of these episodes, I'm going to have to do it. But I'm
looking at the cave from where I am right now on the path inside this
forest in South Charlotte, North Carolina. Trees have fallen around it, but
nobody seems to be interested until now in the cave. I can see the
opening of the cave. But what's inside the cave? What kind of answers?
What kind of of questions would I have if I go inside and all
of a sudden I'm surrounded by Mother Earth. I would go in there with
a pan and paper, yes, to listen, to learn, to find
out what's going on on the opposite side of Heartbreak Hill, but the cave.
On this episode, I challenge myself to get permission to go into the
cave. But somebody has got to go with me, just in case something
is in there and it's calling me to go there. Thanks for being a
part of the conversation.