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, I'm sitting on the
bridge, the infamous bridge that sits in the center of all of these trees.
So many people wonder why is the bridge even there. Well, we've
talked about the ninety five foot drop from the front of the forest to the
back of the forest, because I'm out here by the stream right now that's
leading to the beautiful lake. The bridge was created because of the southern downpours,
and I needed to have some sort of stream to help guide the water
into a safe place and not have it eat away at the land. So
I created a bridge so that the natural water would flow beneath it. But
this bridge couldn't be a home depot or Low's bridge. It had to be
one hundred percent all natural from this forest, and so it has survived more
winters, a couple of tropical storms, and it's survived a lot of hot
summers, and it's still very sturdy. This bridge made out of trees from
this forest. But this bridge has a different story. It's got a deeper
story that goes into the veins of our story in the way that this is
where I sat the day that the veterinarian came over and allowed my little boy,
a Maltese by the name of Woji, to reach deeper into the spirit
of the world. I still sit here remembering that day because it was such
a peaceful journey. He looked at me in the eyes as if to say,
you know I love you. You know I will forever love you.
I will see you soon, and he fell asleep. Every one of my
fuzzy children, all of my rescues, have sat on this bridge with me,
and they have gone. They're walking way to one day I will be
with them, and when I opened my eyes in their heaven, I will
talk to them about the bridge. This place of amazing piece with a stream
that's reaching toward the beautiful lake, and all of these beautiful trees inside a
forest where this poet decided one day I want to write because it is speaking
to me and it needs to be documented. Hey, thanks for being a
part of the conversation.