1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,359 Speaker 1: Hey, when it comes to podcasts listening, are you like me? 2 00:00:02,799 --> 00:00:05,559 I mean, it's like television surfing. You're like all over 3 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:07,440 the place looking for that one thing that you can 4 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,439 add to your moment of now. Be it forest stories, 5 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,560 be it rockstar stories, talking with a chef, whatever you're 6 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,879 looking for. That's what ero dot net is all about. 7 00:00:17,199 --> 00:00:20,879 Arrooe dot net. The searching is over. It's all in 8 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:25,359 one place. Enjoy the exploration. Hey, thanks for being a 9 00:00:25,359 --> 00:00:28,879 part of the conversation. Welcome to Forest Stories, a series 10 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,079 of short winded adventures within a collection of skyscraping trees, 11 00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:34,719 stuck feet first and Georgia Clay right here in Carolina. 12 00:00:35,439 --> 00:00:37,320 It's been a huge part of my daily journey for 13 00:00:37,359 --> 00:00:40,240 over thirty three years. I Am the Poet in the Forest, 14 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,600 a children's series written and recorded in the nineteen nineties. 15 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:47,399 It's grown into multiple podcasts that now reach around the world, 16 00:00:47,719 --> 00:00:49,840 and none of it would be possible without this forest 17 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,799 right here in South Charlotte, North Carolina, at the base 18 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,920 of Heartbreak Hills. It's a sign that reads Rainbow Forest. Well, 19 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,759 it's time you get to meet what's inspired several generations 20 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,880 long before the paved paths decorated with colorful homes colonized 21 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,359 around this beautiful lake, slow moving stream, flatland swamps, and 22 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,840 array of natural animals. There were families and business owners 23 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,040 who are said to have raced into this area for 24 00:01:13,079 --> 00:01:16,560 the beauty of the land, wild roses, migratory birds, and 25 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,400 wild grapevines. Those before me either forgot to write about 26 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,560 it or it's buried somewhere inside their family tree. Hey, 27 00:01:24,599 --> 00:01:26,519 thanks for being a part of the conversation. 28 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,799 Speaker 2: Hey, thanks for coming back to the forest the moment. 29 00:01:32,359 --> 00:01:34,760 And I'm not alone, but I'm not going to be 30 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:39,439 that guy, which makes me alone, that guy who just 31 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:44,480 saw his dog leave something behind. It never smells good, 32 00:01:44,599 --> 00:01:48,000 it never will. And what's the one thing that you 33 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,079 did that a lot of people do. They either forgot 34 00:01:51,079 --> 00:01:54,719 the poop bag or they just don't care about the 35 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,480 poop bag. Well, I do care, and I am a 36 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,879 little bit disappointed that I walked freely of the house 37 00:02:01,079 --> 00:02:04,040 to come out into this beautiful forest, to now have 38 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,319 my hand holding on to something that once belonged to 39 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:13,560 my beautiful pointer, my disaster artist Jazzy. I can't do it. 40 00:02:13,879 --> 00:02:17,439 I can't see her do what she does. And then 41 00:02:17,479 --> 00:02:20,080 I walk away from that, knowing what could be on 42 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,520 that path for somebody else to step in. And usually 43 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,599 it's when they at least expect it, and what do 44 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:29,520 they do in that moment of now? They will sit 45 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,319 there and they'll curse at people like myself. But I'm 46 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:35,120 not going to be that person. That's why I'm not 47 00:02:35,159 --> 00:02:39,000 going to be alone on this idea of use your 48 00:02:39,039 --> 00:02:43,719 god given hand and pick up the junk. Do not 49 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:48,240 leave a dog's trash on a forest floor. But obviously 50 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,360 we know someone, we have been someone, or we have 51 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:55,879 been disappointed with someone who has made that decision to 52 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:00,360 just let their dog poop and keep on walking, because 53 00:03:00,439 --> 00:03:03,639 poop is what we all do. You've seen that book, Yeah, 54 00:03:03,719 --> 00:03:06,400 but how do you feel when you walk into a 55 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:11,000 public bathroom and someone didn't clean up after themselves. You 56 00:03:11,039 --> 00:03:15,680 don't like that, do you? It smells? But yet we 57 00:03:15,719 --> 00:03:18,360 elect to do it inside a forest in a park. 58 00:03:19,039 --> 00:03:20,879 But you're going to have to use something to clean 59 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:24,719 that up so that your dog something doesn't create a 60 00:03:24,759 --> 00:03:28,120 trail that someone's going to kind of just take into 61 00:03:28,159 --> 00:03:31,919 their office, their home. Maybe they're going from a walk 62 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,439 in the forest right into their car and all of 63 00:03:34,439 --> 00:03:37,879 a sudden they realize even though they stop by McDonald's 64 00:03:37,879 --> 00:03:40,599 to get those French fries, it doesn't really smell like 65 00:03:40,639 --> 00:03:44,599 fries anymore inside that car. What do you do? How 66 00:03:44,599 --> 00:03:47,400 do you grow from it? What do you learn? Is 67 00:03:47,439 --> 00:03:50,400 it part of taking care of a forest. I've seen 68 00:03:50,439 --> 00:03:53,560 people that'll see their dogs do the dew and they'll 69 00:03:53,639 --> 00:03:56,759 use their toes to kick it off the path, and it'say, 70 00:03:59,039 --> 00:04:01,560 I don't know if that's right either. And yet I'll 71 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,400 see the deer with their little pebbles, I'll see the 72 00:04:04,479 --> 00:04:07,879 rabbits with their little marbles. I'll see the hawk and 73 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,879 oh my god, when we were on Lake Wilie one 74 00:04:10,919 --> 00:04:16,160 time and that eagle released its load not even three 75 00:04:16,199 --> 00:04:19,360 feet from us inside the kayak, you sit there and 76 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:23,240 you go, WHOA. If I would have stepped in that 77 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,120 swam in that, if I would have touched that, I 78 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,360 would come out as the monster of the Blue Lagoon. 79 00:04:30,759 --> 00:04:36,079 So that's the situation stepping inside a forest, and it's 80 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,360 something you shouldn't have stepped in. Thanks for being a 81 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:40,800 part of the conversation.