Speaker 1: 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. Kind of an odd story
this time around. As I walk through this winter day
inside this tiny little collection of trees in South Charlotte,
North Carolina, Jazzy and I have been taking these walks
since twenty eighteen. That's when she came into my life.
My baby Jazzy, a pointer, loves to eat bird seed.
A lot on bird seed. You get inside those cages
of Ernie and the doves, and she will do whatever
she can to eat the bird seeds. So, while on
this walk today through this forest, as we await this
season's first storm or snowstorm, which should be arriving by
four or five o'clock this afternoon, I look down at
the ground. At first I thought Okay, I'm going to
be looking at this ground tomorrow, probably with white on
it all over the place the first time in three years.
And then it occurred to me, my baby Jazzy, the pointer,
all the bird seed that she eats, well, it's got
to come out right. How many of these plants on
this trail are here because of her, because she just
basically replanted the seeds. Have you thought about that on
your own personal walk and journey when you take your
dog your cat outside into the beautiful arena of the universe,
how much of that out there is because your animal
was called to share the seeds. Just something to think about.
Thanks for being a part of this conversation.