Hey, we're trying something new a podcast called Thanks for being a part of
the conversation. A part of the conversation that you don't get to fall witness
too is my love for this forest in South Charlotte, North Carolina. In
the nineteen nineties, I was the poet in the Forest. It was a
children's series that I pinned out. None of it would be possible if it
wasn't for this force where I presently stand right here in Charlotte. I talk
about it and write about it so much that I thought it was time that
you get to be a part of what has been inspiring me since nineteen ninety
two. Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. Welcome back
to the forest today. We're in the front of it, nearest the street
the lake. It's too far away, too many trees in the way.
There is a large stone like figure in the front part of this forest that
has been moved several times. It comes from a building that was built here
in Charlotte, North Carolina, in nineteen twenty five, the Mecklenburg County Courthouse,
which was torn down a few decades ago. But I remember being in
uptown Charlotte. I stopped and I felt something very very strong. I walked
over to one of the workers that was ripping the building down, and I
said, what would twenty dollars get me? Here's what do you want?
I said, I want that chunk that rock right there, that piece of
concrete. I wanted to go home to my forest to be preserved forever.
You see, because the city of Charlotte doesn't really preserve its history. And
I thought, wow, I want a piece of something that I can put
in this forest, that another writer another day can sit down beside it and
go. This is part of a building that was constructed between nineteen twenty five
and nineteen twenty eight. A lot of things took place inside the Mecklenburg County
Courthouse. And here, in all honesty, this is it. This is
a piece of it. But I wonder how many pieces of this building exist?
Could this be the only one sitting inside this forest? It speaks out
to me every day because the way that the architect designed the concrete. I
mean, you can't walk into a store and purchase this. This was created
in nineteen twenty five, it's twenty twenty three. So what happens next?
You use it as an inspiration tool to sit beside it to listen. We've
talked about this before in other episodes that rocks and trees are the greatest storytellers.
Does that mean that a man made rock can be a storyteller? I
think so. You know, maybe you don't have a forest, maybe you've
got a city street. Go sit by the buildings and listen to the stories.
How much human energy has passed that building or that remnant, and you
could be the one receiving it. A forest somewhere in South Charlotte, North
Carolina, an inspiration, a reason to believe that there's something beyond our present
place of now. We'll never know who we're going to reach. I just
know that this is a ticket to ride, to jump inside your own imagination
when you come across this one little piece of a former Mecklenburg County courthouse.
Listen to it speak. He might even sing a song. This is the
South and there's a lot of music always playing. Hi, Merril, thanks
for being part of the conversation.