Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. This
is Forest Stories. I'm the Poet in the Forest, a
children's series that I pinned out in the nineteen nineties. Now,
none of it would be possible if it wasn't for
this forest right here in South Arlotte, North Carolina. I
talk about it so much that I thought maybe it's
time that you get to know what has inspired me
for thirty years. Thanks for being a part of the conversation. Hey,
welcome back to the forest. I'm pretty deep into the
forest this morning, so much so that I can see
the actual starting of Heartbreak Hill. I've talked so much
about Heartbreak Hill, about how it will steal the air
from your lungs in a heartbeat. You can be walking
very very slowly. By the time you get to the top,
you're going to be sucking for airs. What you're going
to be doing Heartbreak Hill. I've been with this hill
for thirty three years, so many good as well as
bad memories. During my heart attack post exercises, I made
sure that I kept walking up and down, up and
down this hill to restrengthen my heart, and then I
started jogging up and down the hill to keep that
heart strong. But what about those winter months where we
couldn't get the cars up Heartbreak Hill? Too steep, spinning
the tires, going sideways, almost running off the road. And
then one year it actually happened. We parked at the
base of Heartbreak Hill and somebody came by and totaled
their car because they couldn't control themselves coming down Heartbreak Hill.
It's such an amazing hill that just deserves so much love,
and yet it'll bite your ass in a heartbeat. I've
always believed that Heartbreak Hill has earned that name for
reasons beyond my presence in the thirty three years. What
about forty years ago, fifty years ago. Just because they
paid this thing in nineteen eighty eight doesn't mean it
didn't exist before that. Maybe it was a dirt road.
People would run up the hill. They would drive up
the hill because on the opposite side is that beautiful
lake and that stream where the wild roses grew and
the wild grapes and everything that was one hundred percent
natural was waiting for someone to explore during the winter
months as well as the summer months. Because on the
opposite side of where I am on Heartbreak Hill, I've
always called at the King's Mountain because when it snows,
we're all out there on that side of Heartbreak Hill,
taking those sleds out there and going for a nice
long ride, getting that crap scared right out of us.
And the reason why because you don't know where the
southern ice is going to take your sled or your
inner tube. But Heartbreak Hill, I'm staring at it right now.
It doesn't say anything about not liking me. He just says,
come on, give it a shot. You're gonna have your
lungs exercised, and your body is going to be challenged
because sometimes it hurts like hill coming up Heartbreak Hill.
That reminds me of Ron. I used to joke around
with Ron all the time and he would say, there's
going to come a day when I can't climb Heartbreak
Hill anymore. He says, you know what, I'm gonna have
to start driving after that. Well, here's the truth about Ron.
When I found out that he was no longer climbing
Heartbreak Hill, it wasn't too long after that that he
transitioned even sadder for me, maybe a little bit selfish.
My wife is now looking at me and she's telling
me it's getting harder to climb heartbreak Hill. Hey, thanks
for being a part of the conversation.