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 to 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. We're
back in the forest. I'm extremely guilty of this thing we're going to talk
about today, and so are millions, if not billions, of others.
Tree stumps. You know, those moments where something had to be taken down
or the wind took it down, and all that remains is a tree stump.
What's so fascinating about a tree stump, especially the ones I'm going to
talk about today, is that they don't instantly deteriorate. The service reminds there
was something that was once here, there was something here that provided for you.
One such tree stump was a crab tree. It was with me for
several several years. And being uneducated like I usually am when it comes to
trees, because all I want to do is just plant trees on this beautiful
lay of land, is that crab trees require a certain amount of sunlight,
and they don't need umbrellas above them, nor do they need certain pines around
them, because they'll steal from the nutrients of the soil. But I had
to have this particular crab tree, and the way it came into my life
was because we had a big storm here in this forest that took down multiple
trees. My passion for these trees is like a father loving their child.
And when we lost all of those trees, I went on a Facebook.
I talked about it, and I allowed the world to know how broken my
heart was that I lost these trees that I cherished so much. So people
started sending me their trees. They started sending me seedlings, and the crab
tree was definitely one of them, and man, could it ever provide the
most amazingly tart crab apples. And all I have today is this stump.
Now. I could go in, I could dig it out, or I
could shave it clear down to the ground. But no, there's a hope
in my heart thinking that it's going to re sprout. It's going to have
limbs that are going to pop up. On the other side of the forest,
opposite side of the crab tree is another tree stump. I'm standing beside
it right now. It stretched way up high in the sky and it served
as a ladder for raccoons. The raccoons would get into my house. I
would pay several thousand dollars to have the raccoons removed. Yeah, I love
my forest that much, but when you start losing that much, you have
to rethink the plan. And so the people that took care of the raccoons
said, you gotta get rid of that tree. So I said, cut
it down, but leave the stump, because I believe the tree will come
back to being green. And I'm standing beside it right now, and you
should see all the eaty bitty branches that are now growing. I've made an
agreement with this tree stump. I will let you survive. I will not
shave you down to the ground. But I'm gonna have to keep you pruned
and me pruning trees. Oh my god, it took years for me to
realize that you have to do that. In fact, it was a preacher
that said that, because we had to prune our own personal lives. So
when you learn how to prune a tree, you learn how to take better
care of yourself. But this tree stump has so much green on it right
now. I keep waiting for the crab apple tree to get some green as
well. And how about this pine over here, this white pine. It
was one of the first seventeen hundred that was put into this forest in nineteen
ninety seven. Once again, my uneducated way, the umbrella above from the
other trees and their limbs, it wasn't getting enough sunlight and white they need
a lot of sun. But I've got the stump, and the stump reminds
me every day that I was once part of your life. So maybe that's
a lesson that we need to learn here, is that instead of ignoring the
stumps that are left in the ground, even in a natural forest, at
a forest preserve, in a park, because you know they'll do that in
a park, they'll shave it down and everything that was once there in a
city park is gone forever. But yet your imagination says, wasn't there a
tree there at one point in time. Don't remove the stump, share the
story. Thank you so much for being a part of this conversation.