Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. This is Forest Stories.
I am 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 Charlotte, 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. Today, we're going to be
visiting a little lay of the land inside the forest that really isn't part of
its natural birth. We're going to speak a lot about the erosion in future
episodes because the erosion was really doing damage to not only just the land,
but to the trees, to the beautiful natural grass, to even the rocks.
I'm standing in front of a big rock right now, maybe twelve feet
long, four feet out of the ground. But it wasn't there when we
moved into this forest in nineteen ninety two. That's how much we have lost
with erosion. In order to slow this ebrosion down, I felt it in
my heart that maybe it was time to get ivy some sort of land plant
that would withstand the pressures of the rains of the Southern sky. But I
didn't go to a Lowser home depot to get this ivy. What I did
was I went over to an area of Charlotte over in Carmel Road because a
good friend of mine, and all she talked about was how much her grounds
were just overtaken by this ivy. And I said, man, that's what
I gotta have. I gotta have this ivy. But this ivy has it's
a very deep green with layers of purple and blue. It's not like the
typical ivy that you see climbing a tree. This ivy likes to flow with
peace on the ground. And it's been here for so long, and it's
withstood the test of time, which is the rain that's coming down so hard
here in the South, especially when we have these tropical storms. But if
it's still here in the chapters after me, just knowing your heart that this
ivy came from a different area and it found a place of survival inside this
forest, not because of me. It's because it had to make an agreement
with everything that is natural in this forest, from the tall pines the oaks,
the elms, and even what we have here, which is the trees,
and even are slow dancing trees that were blown halfway over during Hurricane Hugo
in the latter part of the nineteen eighties. It's all presented in a way
where the artist says, use your imagination, use fewer words and more inner
energy to envision why this forest is not perfect, nor will it ever be
perfect. But if you use your imagination, you'll be able to hear the
music that is brought by the slightest of breezes. They will be cool at
times, they'll be extremely hot. Just know, no matter how strong the
southern storms, be like the ivy cuddle the ground. Hi Maril, thanks
for being a part of the conversation.