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. Is it or won't it
be a snow day? It wasn't supposed to happen, not
until tomorrow. But when you wake up early in the morning,
and as a frickin' joke, you say, Alexa, what is
today's forecast? And that digital device from Amazon comes back
with no laugh in her voice, as serious as Alexa is,
and she says, there's a forty percent chance of rain
mixed with snow until about ten or eleven o'clock, and
then today you will have snow with an accumulation. My
eyes suddenly popped open. It's like watching a scary movie
and something instantly pops out that you didn't expect. And
I did not expect snow on the forecast twenty four
hours early, and I said, Alexa, is it going to
snow tomorrow? And she comes back with that very calm,
soothing voice, not a laugh in those tones at all.
There is a forty five percent chance of snow tomorrow
with accumulations of one to two inches. It's like, how
do you go from having absolutely nothing in this forest
except for some chilly weather to oh my god, now
we've got two days of snow. Now. I'm not complaining
about snow because I originated in Wyoming as well as Montana.
Snow is and was always been a part of my life.
I just don't like the cold, and I am no
different because ask anybody who lives here in the South,
especially around this forest, how you feeling about the snow.
People will say, I like snow, But then you go,
then why are you staying indoors all the time if
you like the snow? And that's what's pretty sad about
this forest is that it's so gorgeous when it's bathed
in all white, and then there's nobody to share it with,
so people they just keep doing their people things inside
their homes while this forest is saying, look at me,
look at me, look at me, and Alexa is going
well today there is a chance of rain mixed with snow.
Oh my god, not a laugh in her vocal tones
at all. I would love to get Alexa to laugh,
just one time, all in the name of honoring the
beauty of this little, itty bitty forest with Heartbreak Hill,
a slow moving stream, and a beautiful lake that has
had so many different names because nobody knew what it
was until I found somebody who lived in it. Is
Ivy Lake, the snow two days accumulations. Thanks for being
a part of the conversation.