1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,359 Speaker 1: Hey, when it comes to podcasts listening, are you like me? 2 00:00:02,799 --> 00:00:05,559 I mean, it's like television surfing. You're like all over 3 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:07,440 the place looking for that one thing that you can 4 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,439 add to your moment of now. Be it forest stories, 5 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,560 be it rockstar stories, talking with a chef, whatever you're 6 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,879 looking for. That's what ero dot net is all about. 7 00:00:17,199 --> 00:00:20,879 Arrooe dot net. The searching is over. It's all in 8 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:25,359 one place. Enjoy the exploration. Hey, thanks for being a 9 00:00:25,359 --> 00:00:28,879 part of the conversation. Welcome to Forest Stories, a series 10 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,079 of short winded adventures within a collection of skyscraping trees, 11 00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:34,719 stuck feet first and Georgia Clay right here in Carolina. 12 00:00:35,439 --> 00:00:37,320 It's been a huge part of my daily journey for 13 00:00:37,359 --> 00:00:40,240 over thirty three years. I Am the Poet in the Forest, 14 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,600 a children's series written and recorded in the nineteen nineties. 15 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:47,399 It's grown into multiple podcasts that now reach around the world, 16 00:00:47,719 --> 00:00:49,840 and none of it would be possible without this forest 17 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,799 right here in South Charlotte, North Carolina, at the base 18 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,920 of Heartbreak Hills. It's a sign that reads Rainbow Forest. Well, 19 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,759 it's time you get to meet what's inspired several generations 20 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,880 long before the paved paths decorated with colorful homes colonized 21 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,359 around this beautiful lake, slow moving stream, flatland swamps and 22 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,840 array of natural animals. There were families and business owners 23 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,040 who are said to have raced into this area for 24 00:01:13,079 --> 00:01:16,560 the beauty of the land, wild roses, migratory birds, and 25 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,400 wild grapevines. Those before me either forgot to write about 26 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,599 it or it's buried somewhere inside their family tree. Hey, 27 00:01:24,599 --> 00:01:26,519 thanks for being a part of the conversation. 28 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 2: Welcome back to the forest. Is it or won't it 29 00:01:32,519 --> 00:01:37,439 be a snow day? It wasn't supposed to happen, not 30 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,640 until tomorrow. But when you wake up early in the morning, 31 00:01:41,239 --> 00:01:45,439 and as a frickin' joke, you say, Alexa, what is 32 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:50,840 today's forecast? And that digital device from Amazon comes back 33 00:01:50,879 --> 00:01:54,159 with no laugh in her voice, as serious as Alexa is, 34 00:01:55,159 --> 00:01:58,239 and she says, there's a forty percent chance of rain 35 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:03,159 mixed with snow until about ten or eleven o'clock, and 36 00:02:03,239 --> 00:02:08,080 then today you will have snow with an accumulation. My 37 00:02:08,199 --> 00:02:11,879 eyes suddenly popped open. It's like watching a scary movie 38 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,919 and something instantly pops out that you didn't expect. And 39 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,680 I did not expect snow on the forecast twenty four 40 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,560 hours early, and I said, Alexa, is it going to 41 00:02:22,599 --> 00:02:27,319 snow tomorrow? And she comes back with that very calm, 42 00:02:27,599 --> 00:02:31,199 soothing voice, not a laugh in those tones at all. 43 00:02:31,759 --> 00:02:35,560 There is a forty five percent chance of snow tomorrow 44 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,680 with accumulations of one to two inches. It's like, how 45 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,400 do you go from having absolutely nothing in this forest 46 00:02:42,439 --> 00:02:45,680 except for some chilly weather to oh my god, now 47 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,919 we've got two days of snow. Now. I'm not complaining 48 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,639 about snow because I originated in Wyoming as well as Montana. 49 00:02:52,759 --> 00:02:56,039 Snow is and was always been a part of my life. 50 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:58,159 I just don't like the cold, and I am no 51 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,840 different because ask anybody who lives here in the South, 52 00:03:01,039 --> 00:03:03,520 especially around this forest, how you feeling about the snow. 53 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:06,000 People will say, I like snow, But then you go, 54 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,360 then why are you staying indoors all the time if 55 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,639 you like the snow? And that's what's pretty sad about 56 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:16,120 this forest is that it's so gorgeous when it's bathed 57 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:20,000 in all white, and then there's nobody to share it with, 58 00:03:20,479 --> 00:03:24,560 so people they just keep doing their people things inside 59 00:03:24,599 --> 00:03:27,000 their homes while this forest is saying, look at me, 60 00:03:27,199 --> 00:03:30,080 look at me, look at me, and Alexa is going 61 00:03:30,599 --> 00:03:33,479 well today there is a chance of rain mixed with snow. 62 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:36,800 Oh my god, not a laugh in her vocal tones 63 00:03:36,879 --> 00:03:39,879 at all. I would love to get Alexa to laugh, 64 00:03:40,039 --> 00:03:43,719 just one time, all in the name of honoring the 65 00:03:43,759 --> 00:03:48,000 beauty of this little, itty bitty forest with Heartbreak Hill, 66 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,400 a slow moving stream, and a beautiful lake that has 67 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:53,919 had so many different names because nobody knew what it 68 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,639 was until I found somebody who lived in it. Is 69 00:03:56,759 --> 00:04:02,879 Ivy Lake, the snow two days accumulations. Thanks for being 70 00:04:02,879 --> 00:04:03,800 a part of the conversation.