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. I'm sitting
next to a tree right now that was planted in August of two thousand and
one when Larry the Wonder Dog passed away. I thought it would be a
great way to honor his legacy with a tree, with a tree that scrapes
the sky, that listens to all the rainbows and the winds and the changes
in any type of weather conditions. And so what's pretty cool about this tree,
which is a white pine, is that beneath it are several other seedlings,
and I sit there and I think, Wow, one day there's going
to be another writer or a poet that's going to sit next to this tree,
and they're gonna wonder what was the beginning like, what were the challenges
and the changes, what were the people like that lived here. What they
probably won't see are these two statues that are probably about maybe six or seven
feet from the Larry tree. These statues are not like normal statues. I
have them facing the forest and not the street. And the reason being is
because I've always envisioned writers coming to this forest, and when they sit in
this little ravine, it's very interesting to feel. What some people might say,
it's just a hole, it's a hill. There's no energy in something
like that, and yet there is because there are so many tree roots that
are here that collect the water what it pours from the sky. And these
two statues, one of them is a little girl who's sitting and another one
who basically she doesn't have a head. It fell off. It's been here
for many years. Well why haven't I tossed it away? Because I believe
in life, That's what I do, and I think that if you sit
here and use your imagination. You're bringing your own personal interpretation of the story
to the life of this forest. But their backs are to the street because
I envision future creative people to sit down and look into this forest and feel
with their own senses the power of this forest in the way that it's so
giving every day, with the wild life, with the leaves on the trees,
the flowers that grow from out of nowhere. I once read that in
this forest one of the richest people in the city would come here for the
wild roses. Let it grow, let it happen, let it evolve.
But these two statues next to the Larry tree are the beginning of your next
step if you're a creative person or somebody who would like to know that inner
core of what's been talking to them for many years. Two statues with their
backs to the street, overlooking a forest. Thanks for being a part of
the conversation.