Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. This
is Forest Stories. I'm 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. Springtime in this forest. I
really don't know why people mow their lawns. Seriously, I
really don't, because if they would let things grow naturally,
they would take note of the tiniest, most beautiful flowers,
purple yellows, deep blues. I've always been a fan of
the dandelion, and it looks like there's little baby violets
that are growing. Yes, the wild onions are popping up.
It looks like hairs that are out of place on
a man's face. But to a dog it's very attractive
because dogs love the wild onions. But the human being,
you know how it is, they've got to go out
and they've got to shave their yards clean, I'm walking
by these beautiful yellow flowers right now, but a lawnmower
will destroy them forever. Just so tiny, and if you
take the time to take a transition walk, then you're
giving the opportunity to see a different side of Mother Nature.
Queen's lace is looked upon as being a weed, but
when you see it along the road or along a path,
you can't help but go, my god, that is so beautiful.
But many people they like to mow down their lawns.
They want to have that home depot appeal that this
is the most beautiful yard of the month, is it?
Is it? Now? You're talking to a man here that
shows back in the nineteen nineties to give his land
back to the forest, basically meaning, it was really dangerous
for me to be on a lawnmower going down that
ninety five foot drop in my back and the erosion
was really killing me. It was hurting me deeply. And
the reason why I really gave it back to Mother
Nature and to the forest was because I didn't know
what to do with it. So that's when we planted
seventeen hundred trees and I made it a hillside that
has these beautiful, beautiful natural trees from North Carolina. So
now you know my weakness. My weakness was I just
didn't want to get killed on that lawn. More so,
I gave it back to mother nature, who said, okay,
we'll have fun with it. Hey, thanks for being a
part of the conversation.