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Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. This

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is Forest Stories. I am the Poet in the Forest,

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a children's series that I pinned out in the nineteen nineties. Now,

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none of it would be possible if it wasn't for

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this forest right here in South Charlotte, North Carolina. I

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talk about it so much that I thought maybe it's

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time that you get to know what has inspired me

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for thirty years. Thanks for being a part of the conversation.

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Welcome back to the forest. Had another visit with Timmy

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the turtle. Timmy has been a little playful little guy,

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and I wonder sometimes if this is the same turtle

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that used to sit with me inside the sacred circle

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near the slow moving stream headed toward the lake. I

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would be in prayer, in meditation, sitting on the forest floor,

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opening my eyes. Many times a turtle would be sitting

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next to me. I've done some research on turtles. Particular

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turtles in this area usually travel within two acres. They

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call it their home. If Timmy the turtle were ever

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removed from this area, he would spend the rest of

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his life searching for this home in this forest. So

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my wonder is, is this turtle who has been visiting

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us several times this summer, the same Timmy the turtle

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that sat with me in meditation and prayer, and each

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time that we see each other, is Timmy just as excited.

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You should have seen the way Jazzy and Timmy looked

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at each other just a moment ago. Jazzy, my pointer,

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gets on her fore paws like she's gonna play with

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another dog, and there was Timmy the turtle, looking straight

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into Jazzy's eyes. They were nearly nose to nose. I

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love this little guy, and I do hope in my

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heart with faith that Timmy has always been in with

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me this entire way, from the sacred circle near the

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stream to sitting right there in the front yard just

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a moment ago, playing with JOSSI. Hey, thanks for being

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a part of the conversation.