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. Raymond, Oh Raymond. If you
were to ever meet Raymond, you would be just as
touched as everybody who has been a part of Raymond's
chapters for the past twenty six years. Raymond is a
gord a gourd that's been painted to look like a penguin.
He's got a beautiful nose, He's got unbelievable eyes. He's
even got a wife because I was the efficient at
Raymond's wedding. Every year at Christmas we do the White Elephant,
and every year we fight to have the right to
spend a year with Raymond. You know, to another neighborhood,
it might not be that big, but to this forest,
Raymond has been everywhere sitting next to the pool, sitting
inside our forest in the way of collecting sand from
the side of the lake, or just sitting there staring
at the slow moving stream. Raymond. Everybody every year wants
to get their hands on Raymond. And you know what's
really interesting about this year. Raymond was actually the last
gift that was chosen because the person that was ready
to share it with the next generation, well, they put
it in a different box. It wasn't Raymond inside the box.
It was just all the pictures. And I'm talking about
hundreds of pictures with all of these families who have
been with Raymond. A gourd painted black and white to
look like a penguin with his wife and all of
those photographs. I want you to meet Raymond sometime because
Raymond will warm your heart when you're the coldest you've
ever been. Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation.