1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. Welcome 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,599 to Forest Stories, a series of short winded adventures within 3 00:00:06,639 --> 00:00:09,720 a collection of skyscraping trees stuck feet first in Georgia 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:12,560 Clay right here in Carolina. It's been a huge part 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,160 of my daily journey for over thirty three years. I 6 00:00:15,199 --> 00:00:18,120 Am the Poet in the Forest, a children's series written 7 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,719 and recorded in the nineteen nineties. It's grown into multiple 8 00:00:21,719 --> 00:00:24,399 podcasts that now reach around the world, and none of 9 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,519 it would be possible without this forest. Right here in 10 00:00:26,559 --> 00:00:29,879 South Charlotte, North Carolina, at the base of Heartbreak Hills, 11 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,560 sits a sign that reads Rainbow Forest. Well, it's time 12 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:37,119 you get to meet what's inspired several generations. Long before 13 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,520 the paved paths decorated with colorful homes colonized around this 14 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,000 beautiful lake, slow moving stream, flatland swamps and array of 15 00:00:44,079 --> 00:00:47,600 natural animals, there were families and business owners who are 16 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:49,719 said to have raced into this area for the beauty 17 00:00:49,719 --> 00:00:53,880 of the land, wild roses, migratory birds, and wild grapevines. 18 00:00:54,479 --> 00:00:57,280 Those before me either forgot to write about it or 19 00:00:57,359 --> 00:01:01,159 it's buried somewhere inside their family tree. Hey, thanks for 20 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,439 being a part of the Conversation. This week, the Writer's 21 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,840 Canvas unveils the shaping of a new season called Fall. 22 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:14,120 Welcome back to the forest. Fifty six degrees, sunshine, breezy. 23 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,400 Inside this forest, the birds are in full flight, their 24 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,319 plain in the sky. That's what I love about windy days. 25 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,000 Birds they don't need that wing power. They just want 26 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,079 to soar. They want to have a roller coaster adventures 27 00:01:27,079 --> 00:01:30,760 what they want to do on a very chilly, chilly 28 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,680 fall day inside a forest, a collection of trees, even 29 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,799 the ripples on the lake. It's just so strange that 30 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,400 as we go into the fall months, how the surface 31 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,640 of the water changes. It's not like the deeper colors 32 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:47,959 where you probably have more algae in the water during 33 00:01:47,959 --> 00:01:50,480 the summer months because of the heat. But as the 34 00:01:50,519 --> 00:01:52,719 cooler weather sets in, that algae kind of, you know, 35 00:01:52,799 --> 00:01:56,319 dies off and the water changes, and it's very interesting 36 00:01:56,359 --> 00:01:59,799 how it becomes kind of a glassy feeling. It's almost 37 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:04,079 like a movie scene, something from Disney them. You know, 38 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:06,200 you're waiting for the animated characters to come out there 39 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,680 and go hi ho, hi ho. It's off to the 40 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,319 like we go. But that's just what's so fun about 41 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,919 the daily walk through a forest is that you fall 42 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:20,360 witness to all the beauty of change, because you know 43 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,800 what they're evolving right now, they're going to go into 44 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,319 a dormant period. All things in this forest are going 45 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:29,919 to go to sleep. They're gonna rest. They're going to 46 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:32,319 get ready for a brand new spring season and that 47 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,240 whatever the fruit is that they bring forward, it's going 48 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:37,199 to be something special. But they've got to have that 49 00:02:37,319 --> 00:02:40,000 rest first. Whereas the human is always on the go, 50 00:02:40,199 --> 00:02:42,479 always on the move, a lot of people will look 51 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:44,599 at me kind of strange out here in this forest 52 00:02:44,599 --> 00:02:48,639 because I don't have any socks on, I've got shorts on, 53 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,520 I've got a very thin T shirt on fifty six degrees. 54 00:02:53,199 --> 00:02:56,039 What they never ask me is, so why are you 55 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,479 out here and you don't even have a coat on. 56 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,199 You don't even have a hat on or gloves. Being 57 00:03:01,479 --> 00:03:04,240 this chili here in the South with the humidity makes 58 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:06,719 it cold to the bone, as we call it. And 59 00:03:06,759 --> 00:03:10,080 the thing is is that there's a reason there really is. 60 00:03:10,719 --> 00:03:13,719 It's called conditioning. It's what I learned up in Montana 61 00:03:13,759 --> 00:03:15,919 growing up, is that if you're going to get ready 62 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,199 for a twenty four below zero day in Montana. It 63 00:03:19,199 --> 00:03:22,039 doesn't start on the day that it's eighteen below. It 64 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,280 starts in the weeks and the months far ahead, where 65 00:03:25,319 --> 00:03:28,159 you get outside without the jacket. You go out there 66 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,639 and you toughen up the skin, and you toughen up 67 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,039 the attitude. Now, if it were to suddenly be ninety 68 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,919 degrees tomorrow, would I freak out? Probably because I'm getting 69 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,000 used to the cooler weather, and I'm not freaking out 70 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:42,759 in the way of saying, oh my god, it's so cold. 71 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:45,759 And I think what helps ease the pain and the 72 00:03:45,759 --> 00:03:48,360 pressure is the fact that you can sit here and 73 00:03:48,439 --> 00:03:52,879 watch the osprey, the hawks, and all the other birds 74 00:03:52,879 --> 00:03:55,560 that are starting to migrate into this area, and so 75 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:59,680 you don't worry about anything that's about you know that's 76 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,199 going to get in the way of the natural beauty. 77 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,919 I mean, just because we've man made everything that seems 78 00:04:05,919 --> 00:04:09,599 to be outside this forest with our little fiber optics 79 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,520 when it comes to the internet and lights that turn 80 00:04:12,599 --> 00:04:15,479 on when the sun goes down. But if you take 81 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,000 the time to walk through a city park, through a 82 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,879 city's downtown area where they do have a lot of 83 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:26,279 trees these days, take the time to watch the seasons 84 00:04:26,399 --> 00:04:30,079 change you're going to learn more about you the human being. 85 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,439 Then you're going to learn about everything else that you 86 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,800 see on your social media and on your television set. 87 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,759 And the reason why is because nature doesn't lie. Nature 88 00:04:40,759 --> 00:04:43,000 speaks the truth and the way of saying you either 89 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,319 need to get prepared for the change that's coming our 90 00:04:45,319 --> 00:04:49,120 way or you can complain. The choice is all yours. 91 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:51,240 And that's what I learned from this. For us, it's 92 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:55,040 such a great teaching tool and as a listener as 93 00:04:55,079 --> 00:04:58,319 well as a student, my goal is to find my 94 00:04:58,399 --> 00:05:03,519 way through the thick and the thin. Hey, thanks for 95 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:04,920 being a part of the conversation.