1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,359 Speaker 1: Hey, do me a favor. Don't forget about Arrow dot net, 2 00:00:02,399 --> 00:00:06,480 Aroe dot net. All of my podcasts are waiting for 3 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,919 you to locate them and have some fun as well 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:15,080 as maybe learn something Arrow dot net, rre dot net. Hey, 5 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:17,399 thanks for being a part of the conversation. Welcome to 6 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,839 Forest Stories, a series of short winded adventures within a 7 00:00:20,839 --> 00:00:24,079 collection of skyscraping trees stuck feet first in Georgia clay 8 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,760 right here in Carolina. It's been a huge part of 9 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,440 my daily journey for over thirty three years. I am 10 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,320 the Poet in the Forest, a children's series written and 11 00:00:32,399 --> 00:00:36,359 recorded in the nineteen nineties. It's grown into multiple podcasts 12 00:00:36,399 --> 00:00:38,600 that now reach around the world, and none of it 13 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,320 would be possible without this forest right here in South Charlotte, 14 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,359 North Carolina, at the base of Heartbreak Hills. It's a 15 00:00:44,359 --> 00:00:47,920 sign that reads Rainbow Forest. Well, it's time you get 16 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:51,679 to meet what's inspired several generations. Long before the paved 17 00:00:51,719 --> 00:00:55,359 paths decorated with colorful homes colonized around this beautiful lake, 18 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,000 slow moving stream, flatland swamps and array of natural animals, 19 00:00:59,359 --> 00:01:02,079 there were fam and business owners who are said to 20 00:01:02,119 --> 00:01:04,359 have raced into this area for the beauty of the land, 21 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:09,439 wild roses, migratory birds, and wild grapevines. Those before me 22 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,560 either forgot to write about it or it's buried somewhere 23 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,840 inside their family tree. Hey, thanks for being a part 24 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,879 of the conversation. This week, the Writer's Canvas unveils a 25 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:21,519 look back at the forest. 26 00:01:22,239 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 2: Welcome back to the forest. 27 00:01:23,599 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: I wrote something yesterday in my daily writing about the 28 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,799 structure of this forest when I entered it in November 29 00:01:31,799 --> 00:01:34,879 of nineteen ninety two versus where we presently stand here 30 00:01:35,079 --> 00:01:37,400 in October going into November of. 31 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:38,799 Speaker 2: Twenty twenty five. 32 00:01:39,599 --> 00:01:42,359 Speaker 1: And what I wrote about was based on the visual 33 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,439 effects of how this forest is growing, because I've spent 34 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,920 a lot of time over the past few months really 35 00:01:48,959 --> 00:01:51,040 trying to get into this forest and give it some 36 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,879 extra added love by way of pruning the trees, and 37 00:01:54,959 --> 00:01:57,000 you know, you know, And the thing about it is, 38 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,959 it's all based on the human is that we kind 39 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,519 of plant inside these forests, and that also includes state force, 40 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,479 that includes national force. The human steps in there and says, well, 41 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:10,719 you know what, this is what we need to do 42 00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:14,159 so that we prevent this from actually happening. So in 43 00:02:14,199 --> 00:02:17,199 that writing, I actually was taking a look at what 44 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:19,719 it looked like in nineteen ninety two, and I described 45 00:02:19,759 --> 00:02:23,039 it as a way that it must have looked back 46 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,479 in the early days of the maybe the fifteen and 47 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,560 sixteen hundreds, when all those settlers arrived on the East 48 00:02:28,599 --> 00:02:31,159 coast of the United States, it wasn't even this country yet. 49 00:02:31,319 --> 00:02:33,560 And what they did was they wanted to explore this 50 00:02:33,759 --> 00:02:37,560 nation and document every plant life, to document every bird, 51 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:41,800 to be in a place where history would totally forget 52 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,120 about them. And yet what we do on an everyday 53 00:02:44,159 --> 00:02:47,879 basis it through them without our knowledge, we're able to 54 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,520 enjoy what it is that we are getting from not 55 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,479 only force but even the dry lands of the prairies. 56 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:55,319 So that's the thing about it, is that if we 57 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,159 would just take the time to pull the lens back 58 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,520 and look at everything that took place before we arrived 59 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,360 in this moment of right now, be it twenty twenty five, 60 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,240 you might be listening to this in twenty twenty nine 61 00:03:07,319 --> 00:03:10,520 or two thy thirty three. That's the thing about what 62 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,240 we're doing these days. We all think that what we 63 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,400 plant inside this world via social media is like this forest, 64 00:03:17,599 --> 00:03:21,280 it's just going to keep growing. And you know, When 65 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:25,840 the forest keeps growing, the vines get thicker, not just 66 00:03:26,199 --> 00:03:30,039 regular grape vines, but I'm talking about poison ivy lines. 67 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:34,400 Have you ever seen the size of a poison ivy vine? 68 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:36,039 Speaker 2: When the human. 69 00:03:35,759 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: Being says, ah, you know what, that's farther than I 70 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:41,240 really want to go back in the forest. 71 00:03:41,439 --> 00:03:44,319 Speaker 2: We're just gonna let it be and let it grow. 72 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:46,439 And then one day you walk back there and. 73 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: It looks like a giant, fuzzy ass snake that's just 74 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,120 looking at you, going come up to me. I'm poison ivy. 75 00:03:53,719 --> 00:03:57,360 I don't mind biting you. Human, You're gonna like the effects. 76 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:00,319 I'm gonna drive you so crazy that you're to be 77 00:04:00,319 --> 00:04:03,439 thinking about me every night for several weeks ahead. 78 00:04:03,879 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 2: I am poison ivy. 79 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:09,439 Speaker 1: I am in your forest. So what I was writing 80 00:04:09,439 --> 00:04:12,879 about yesterday about the forest was one hundred percent based 81 00:04:12,919 --> 00:04:15,680 on what it looked like in nineteen ninety two. In 82 00:04:15,719 --> 00:04:18,959 all of this amazing pruning that we've been doing lately, 83 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,079 hen you feel guilty because these are your children. You 84 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,680 are cutting into these trees. But as you do that, 85 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,160 I speak softly to them, saying we're making things better. 86 00:04:29,759 --> 00:04:33,519 The snow is coming, the winter will arrive sooner than 87 00:04:33,519 --> 00:04:37,199 we can ever imagine. I don't want you to break 88 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:42,079 at your beautiful trunk because the human felt like, well, 89 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,360 we don't need to trim back the trees. Everything is 90 00:04:45,399 --> 00:04:48,360 going to be fine. That is not true when it 91 00:04:48,399 --> 00:04:52,000 comes to the forest. Sometimes we have to collaborate. We 92 00:04:52,079 --> 00:04:56,360 have to write universal spiritual music. That means you've got 93 00:04:56,399 --> 00:04:59,680 to take care of it so that it can take 94 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,040 care of you. Hey, thanks for being a part of 95 00:05:03,079 --> 00:05:03,759 the conversation.