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. Very cold forest today, so
cold that it's actually amazingly calm. Nothing's really moving except
for the squirrels. The squirrels are playing around with their homes.
They're rebuilding the walls of those tree homes. They're taking
nuts up to those homes. It's almost like you're saying,
you got to get prepared. Human are you watching? Nothing
else is moving, but we are. Because it's going to
get cold, and it's going to get even maybe nasty
with some rain and snow. But you got to get prepared.
Watching nature in this forest has been one of the
greatest learning lessons that I've had since I've been here
since nineteen ninety two. To take the time to just
sit down and become aware of nature and how nature
moves through these trees and around the water. The deer
are usually plentiful this time of day, but they're nowhere
to be seen. Are they laying in areas where they're
keeping warm? Because it's cold in this forest today, very cold.
Usually the bucks are out, they're traveling from one side
of the forest to the other, not a fear in
their eyes at all. And the dough they're always protecting
the young ones that they had this past season, and
they're not even around. But the squirrels always working hard,
always rebuilding that nest. And I do wonder sometimes if
I I could step inside the home of a squirrel,
would I too find warmth? What is it they're creating
in there? And do they use mud? They're so high
up there you can't reach them. Those beautiful squirrels nests.
It's almost like a beehive of sorts. You can count
them on several different trees, several different families in their
own little community, working hard on a very cool day
in this forest. Hey, thanks for being a part of
the conversation.