1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,560
Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. This

2
00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,480
is Forest Stories. I am the Poet in the Forest,

3
00:00:05,759 --> 00:00:08,480
a children's series that I pinned out in the nineteen nineties. Now,

4
00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:10,640
none of it would be possible if it wasn't for

5
00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,480
this forest right here in South Charlotte, North Carolina. I

6
00:00:13,519 --> 00:00:16,480
talk about it so much that I thought, maybe it's

7
00:00:16,519 --> 00:00:19,679
time that you get to know what has inspired me

8
00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:24,359
for thirty years. Thanks for being a part of the conversation.

9
00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:28,640
Welcome back to the forest. A thought has fallen into

10
00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:34,079
my heart, planted by my neighbor Fred, You're old grow

11
00:00:34,119 --> 00:00:37,000
with it. Of course I had to reflect on that

12
00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:40,119
I've been a part of this forest for thirty two years.

13
00:00:41,439 --> 00:00:45,520
I'm old grow with it, which could be the very

14
00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,840
reason why less than a year ago I decided that

15
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:51,759
it was time to share the story of this forest

16
00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,280
in South Charlotte, North Carolina. The street sign says it's

17
00:00:56,359 --> 00:01:00,759
Rainbow Forest. I gotta believe it. It must be. I

18
00:01:00,799 --> 00:01:03,679
don't see anything else. I don't see pictures of this

19
00:01:03,799 --> 00:01:09,480
forest before we all arrived here. You're old grow with it.

20
00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:14,319
Part of that growth is sharing it. I'm walking up

21
00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:16,760
Heartbreak Hill. We've talked about Heartbreak Hills so many times.

22
00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,120
This is a monster of a hill. We've talked about

23
00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,040
how Ron he was faithfully out here every day with

24
00:01:23,079 --> 00:01:27,239
his dogs, but as he got older he couldn't do

25
00:01:27,239 --> 00:01:31,079
it anymore. So he drove up the hill, which has

26
00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,719
given me the fuel to do this every single day.

27
00:01:35,799 --> 00:01:38,000
When I had my heart attack in two thousand and nine,

28
00:01:38,599 --> 00:01:42,760
I used Heartbreak Hill to strengthen my heart, to get

29
00:01:42,799 --> 00:01:45,000
the beats up, to be able to say I can

30
00:01:45,079 --> 00:01:48,200
do this. This hill will not defeat me. We're going

31
00:01:48,239 --> 00:01:54,959
to win. You're old grow with it. The lake, which

32
00:01:54,959 --> 00:01:57,560
we've not talked about lately because it's not easy for

33
00:01:57,599 --> 00:01:59,719
me to get down to the lake, and yet when

34
00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,120
I do go to the lake, it's amazing what is

35
00:02:03,159 --> 00:02:06,359
waiting for the eyes of anybody who ventures in. But

36
00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:07,640
the reason why I don't go down to the lake

37
00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,599
as often as I want to because it's always been

38
00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:16,439
my fantasy, my childhood dream inside adults shoes that if

39
00:02:16,439 --> 00:02:17,879
I go down there and get used to being at

40
00:02:17,879 --> 00:02:21,520
the lake, I may lose the fire of turning this

41
00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,960
forest into a writer's paradise, into a place for all

42
00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,479
creative people where they can come and receive whatever is

43
00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:35,680
going on inside this forest. You're old grow with it,

44
00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,439
which inspires my soul because, as the great speakers of

45
00:02:41,479 --> 00:02:45,680
the past have always said, old is not a disease.

46
00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:56,039
It's a gift that not everybody gets to experience. I'm Eryl, Hey,

47
00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:57,520
thanks for being a part of the conversation.