Speaker 1: Hey, when it comes to podcasts listening, are you like me?
I mean, it's like television surfing. You're like all over
the place looking for that one thing that you can
add to your moment of now. Be it forest stories,
be it rockstar stories, talking with a chef, whatever you're
looking for. That's what ero dot net is all about.
Arrooe dot net. The searching is over. It's all in
one place. Enjoy the exploration. Hey, thanks for being a
part of the conversation. Welcome to Forest Stories, a series
of short winded adventures within a collection of skyscraping trees,
stuck feet first and Georgia Clay right here in Carolina.
It's been a huge part of my daily journey for
over thirty three years. I Am the Poet in the Forest,
a children's series written and recorded in the nineteen nineties.
It's grown into multiple podcasts that now reach around the world,
and none of it would be possible without this forest
right here in South Charlotte, North Carolina, at the base
of Heartbreak Hills. It's a sign that reads Rainbow Forest. Well,
it's time you get to meet what's inspired several generations
long before the paved paths decorated with colorful homes colonized
around this beautiful lake, slow moving stream, flatland swamps and
array of natural animals. There were families and business owners
who are said to have raced into this area for
the beauty of the land, wild roses, migratory birds, and
wild grapevines. Those before me either forgot to write about
it or it's buried somewhere inside their family tree. Hey,
thanks for being a part of the conversation.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the forest. New Year's day, brand new fresh.
But is it New Year's Day? In this forest has
always been known for those that are chasing resolutions, you know,
to get the mind, body and soul back in shape,
to kind of get back into a journey of thinking,
to get the ball bouncing one more time, because that's
what a new year is, you know, that twenty four
hour period known as January first of every single year.
There's so much pressure with what's happening in the world
that you sit there and say, well, how can I
make a difference. The only thing I can change is myself.
And here I sit out here in this forest and
I'm not seeing any New Year's resolution people chasing any
dreams to get the body back in shape to sit
there and work and try to figure out what the
sunshine is going to be in the next three hundred
and sixty three days that sit in front of you.
But yeah, even the lake, I don't hear anybody outside
having conversations. I don't hear anybody clinging their teacups or
sharing a mimosa or even a bloody mary. Because this
is the morning after New Year's Eve. That's celebration and
how well did those go last night? Are the gatherings
of people really really happening? Hear of them? But this
thing called friends giving that seem to be the big
dot on the map this year? How many people actually
came to that celebration? And are we changing as a generation?
And what will it do to those that follow us?
Kind of a heavy subject when it comes to sharing
forest stories. But that's where I presently stand in this forest.
New Year's Day usually when people are out there trying
to sink their teeth into that new year resolution, and
there's nothing going on. In fact, the peace and tranquility
that is happening here outside of Jazzy going crazy. You've
overseeing a couple of deer that is the peace and
tranquility kind of reminds me of the days of the
COVID lockdown when I would be walking through this forest
and there was nobody, No birds, no squirrels, nothing, not
even the scent of smoke in the air. And that's
the way this New Year's Day actually feels. Nobody showed up,
so I have to ask, are we really here or
is this the upside down world they speak of and
stranger things. Thanks for being a part of the conversation.