Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. I am the Poet
in the Forest, a children's series I pinned out in the nineteen nineties.
Now, none of it would be possible if it wasn't for this forest in
South Charlotte, North Carolina. I talk about it so much that I thought
maybe it's time you get to meet all that inspires me. Thank you for
being a part of the conversation. Hey, Sarah. For the past eleven
years, I've talked a lot about my forest here in South Charlotte, North
Carolina. In nineteen ninety seven, we planted seventeen hundred trees. It was
my mission, my calling to do this, because this lay of land was
screaming to go back to where it used to be before man stepped in and
built homes. I've talked about it so much, and yet you've never heard
my forest talk. So I want to create a podcast that allows you to
meet all the different trees, the long tall grass, and the stream that
leads to the lake, all of this beauty in South Charlotte, North Carolina.
There's a reason why when these people call me up, when they say,
hey, we want to give you an off or for your house.
I say, do you have seven million dollars? And they sit there and
they laugh, and I go, you have no idea what's been happening in
this forest since I arrived in nineteen ninety two, especially when we put those
seventeen hundred trees in the ground in nineteen ninety seven. Today I'm standing next
to an elm. This elm was just barely four inches when it was put
into the ground. I remember it vividly, but I could never really picture
what it was going to look like all these years later. And yet here
I am at the trunk and it's standing twenty seven thirty feet above me.
So did you know who I was when you arrived from the North Carolina tree
dot Com place? I know, I'm telling you that's exactly what it was.
See you arrived in a box, and I was like, going,
you gotta be kid me. There's no sunshine in that box. I totally
get it. But let me ask you a question, though, So when
I put you in this place, which is the center of the yard,
I mean, in reality, you know, I was tired of mowing the
lawn, but I needed something here. But but but did you know that
that I truly was a tree lover you did I know? Was there just
something in my voice? Or when when when we put you in the ground,
what happened? Oh? Oh no, seriously are you? Are you
for real? Oh? My god? You know. One of the things
that's hurt me so bad is the fact that that when we had to prune
you, that breaks my heart because I mean, that's like cutting off a
finger. I would never cut off a finger on a human. Why am
I cutting off the branches of a tree? And yet I can see today
as you reach toward the sky that that you you really are a presence,
and that you offer shade and you offer cool things. Do you ever think
about us when we're walking below? Come on now, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, you can't say that.
Okay, I realize it did hurt when I when I cut off the limb,
But but but look look at how strong you are today. I think
that if you had too many limbs, you'd be too heavy and you would
fall over. Let me ask you a question, though, you know,
I noticed standing here today that there are a lot of ants going up and
down your trunk. Do you feel them? Does it tickle? Does it
piss you off? I mean, what happens yep, yep, yep,
yep, yep. Yeah yo. Do they sting you like they sting me?
Oh you're kidding me? Oh my god. Well, you know,
personally, between you and I elm in my front yard. The one thing
that really scares me the most is that I never want to see the day
that a woodpecker starts landing on you and I hear tap tap tap tap tap
tap tap tap tap, because I've known you since you were about four inches
tall. So you pay attention to the birds as well. Okay, hold
hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. If you pay
attention to the birds, what are all these feathers coming from? You know,
my brother passed away and suddenly all these feathers started appearing in the front
yard and they're always around you. Is that a hawk? Is it an
owl? Is it an angel? What do you think it is? Oh?
Really, honestly, no, No, someone's not going to go to
Michael's and I'm not going to go to Party City to buy a bag of
feathers and put out here just to tease the writer. Right, You've got
no, this is stupid. Really Okay, Well, I put these rocks
below you because some people don't want rocks in the yards. I kind of
like the side of a mountain because I come from Montana, and I put
these rocks below you because I want you to feel like that you are solid
in your rooting system, although you are leaning, which kind of scares me
because you know, how strong is this soil? Do you find yourself in
a presence of now? Or do you find yourself you know, just kind
of saying, hey, look, one day I'm gonna come down, but
I know that my human companion is going to put me in a place where
I can share with other things. See, you do have compassion. Oh
really, See that's what I was thinking. I was thinking that if I
put you into the forest and I gave you back to the earth, all
the different animals that would come to you, including the different bugs and things.
I mean, I mean, we're looking at these ants today and without
you, would they have a mountain to climb? Because maybe ants are doing
that, they're like maybe raising money for some sort of ant foundation or something.
Man, you know, I love you right. You've been with me
since nineteen ninety seven. I have never forgotten the day that you went into
the soil. I just want to thank you for being a part of the conversation