1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,399
Hey, thanks for being a part
of the conversation. This is Forest Stories.

2
00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,080
I am the Poet in the Forest, a children's series that I pinned

3
00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,119
out in the nineteen nineties. Now, none of it would be possible if

4
00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:13,480
it wasn't for this forest right here
in South Charlotte, North Carolina. I

5
00:00:13,519 --> 00:00:17,480
talk about it so much that I
thought, maybe it's time that you get

6
00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:23,079
to know what has inspired me for
thirty years. Thanks for being a part

7
00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:27,719
of the conversation. Welcome back to
the forest. There was a song that

8
00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,480
was released in the latter part of
the nineteen sixties, maybe even the early

9
00:00:30,519 --> 00:00:36,600
seventies. It invited listeners attached to
their favorite radio stations to listen to the

10
00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:42,439
rhythm of the falling rain. I
think that's what's happening today inside this forest,

11
00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:47,719
the Rainbow forest. We're out here, it's raining, it's forty three

12
00:00:47,719 --> 00:00:53,200
degrees, and all we hear is
the rhythm of the falling rain through these

13
00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:59,439
trees, these trees who never feel
like they're bothered by weather. It's almost

14
00:00:59,479 --> 00:01:03,400
like their their branches are grateful.
That's why they reach so high in the

15
00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:10,400
sky, to show their mindfulness and
their gratefulness for everything that they receive,

16
00:01:11,239 --> 00:01:15,480
and yet the crazy human likes to
go about and complain about how the weather

17
00:01:15,599 --> 00:01:19,400
is affecting them. But the forest
story today is about the rhythm of the

18
00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:26,159
falling rain and how it feels against
your hands, your face, and how

19
00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:32,040
listening to it really is a soothing
moment, knowing that there will be more

20
00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:38,599
days of sunshine, there will be
avenues of personal growth. The idea that

21
00:01:38,719 --> 00:01:42,480
rain should be scariness indoors is so
wrong. But these are the lessons that

22
00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:47,560
this force has been sharing with me
for over thirty years. To be able

23
00:01:47,599 --> 00:01:53,079
to look beyond the four walls the
human has designed, and put yourself in

24
00:01:53,120 --> 00:02:00,480
a position of learning how nature survives. And oh, this forest is blest

25
00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:05,280
with nature. The birds are singing. It is raining, but the birds

26
00:02:05,439 --> 00:02:10,000
are singing. People are moving,
but they look grumpy. But not on

27
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:16,240
this trail that I'm walking on is
peace filled. People always say, I'm

28
00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:21,439
trying to find peace in this brand
new year. Find yourself a forest like

29
00:02:21,479 --> 00:02:28,080
the rainbow forest, be in a
moment of now with nature, and listen

30
00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,159
to the stories. But don't hoard
them, because I've been doing that for

31
00:02:31,199 --> 00:02:37,599
thirty years, hoarding all my love
and passion for this collection of trees until

32
00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:39,520
now Hey, thanks for being a
part of a conversation