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 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 rain barrel. I laugh
at this because in my love for this forest, I wanted to use natural
rain, the gift from the sky, to help feed the soil of these
trees, as well as everything else that grew with it. I didn't want
it just to be something that basically plunged itself down this hill, a ninety
five foot drop from the street to the creek that leads to the lake.
I didn't want that. I wanted rain barrels, but I didn't want the
kind of rain barrel that you picked up at home depot or Low's. I
know, as an artist, I'll create many rain barrels, maybe even sell
them, so that people grasp the idea of the importance of a rain barrel.
So I hired somebody in Ohio to be my potter. I would come
up with the design and they would do everything they needed to do to make
it one hundred percent outdoor proof. Such a beautiful thing, this rain barrel
is, and it sits right here in the forest even today, twelve years
later, there's no dimming of the lights. It's as bright as you can
always believe. It's a very navy, deep blue with a gigantic sun on
it, made in the colors of yellow, orange, red, whatever it
was going to take to show that the sunshine is every day the rain barrel.
Did it take off? Did it sell? No? But it still
sits in the forest, and I half in wonder if it will last longer
than me. And when the day comes, when I'm no longer here and
I've transitioned, what will the next person see? Will they understand the story
of the rain barrel? Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation.