Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for being a part of the conversation. This
is Forest Stories. I am 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 Charlotte, 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.
Welcome back to the forest. When you know something isn't right,
This is going to sound kind of odd, but maybe
in your own way, you'll understand. In this forest, it's
not that we live in a home depot or a
low's design forest, because it's very, very open. You step
into this forest, you're going to see fallen limbs. You're
going to see trees that grew awkwardly wrong, but it
seems right. But the homes that are in this forest
have been pruned. They look nice. But when you know
there's something wrong, when the lawns aren't being cut and
the tree limbs are still laying on their lawns, not
necessarily in the forest, on their lawns. We just recently
had a situation where I was speaking to a man
that I've known for many, many, many years. I didn't
think there was anything wrong with our conversation. We spoke
openly many times about walking up and down Heartbreak Hill.
But his lawn was hardly, if ever cut. I didn't
realize that he had Alzheimer's. See from the outside. I
don't judge a book by its cover until you see
something different about the lawn. I asked many questions. Maybe
it's because he's old, Maybe his lawn mower is broken down.
People would come by and offer to cut his lawn,
but he didn't Alzheimer's, and now he's in a retirement home.
The house said, simpty, A vacant spot in the forest
from a man who loved his side of the forest
so much. At the base of Heartbreak Hill, the big
Yellow House. Its lawn hasn't been cut for a few weeks.
It makes you wonder what's going on and is it
really any of my business? Your lawn? It says a
lot about you. And as I pass the bee keeper's
part of the forest right now, his lawn is out
of control too. Come to think of it, I haven't
seen him since the day he hung the sign that
he has his honey up for sale. It's been there
now several weeks. When I know in the past, in
this forest his honey is usually gone within a few days.
O A lot to think about as the forest evolves.
He thanks for being a part of the conversation.