Speaker 1: If you love listening to podcasts, you've got to have
a choice. Right Arrow dot net, ar r oe dot net.
It's not just about talking to the rock stars and
the chefs and the movie stars. This is about your
walk of life. Arrow dot net, a r r Oe
dot Net. My little green friend, his name is Ernie.
He's a blue crown conyer. I mean, for over thirty
two years, he's overlooked this forest right here in South Charlotte,
North Carolina. Every day, Ernie and I sit inside this
beautiful place, overlooking the trees, the nearby lake, and every
bit of the wildlife. Strolling through such an amazing piece
of land. Ernie and I share the same vision. It's
this forest. We both look into the trees and study
the earth below. There's something very spiritual going on here.
That's why I call it the Lyrics to Ernie's Forest.
We both receive an amazing amount of energy. I put
all of my trust and skills as a student into
what he is willing to share with me. These aren't
my words, these are the lyrics from Ernest chapter number
four hundred twenty five, May fourth, twenty twenty four. The
last time the cicadas came to the surface of the
forest floor was thirteen to seventeen years ago, between two
thousand and eight and twenty eleven. I began this writing
journal within this forest in May of twenty fifteen to
hear as well as document the arrival of this cycle
of the cicadas is so new to the writing, especially
since I wasn't taking my daily transition walks either. Today
the cicadas song is extremely meditation, like you get locked
in and lost in the presence of something so blessed
and willing to share. But only eighteen states are actually
receiving this moment. I don't know if it's the cicadas
or that we're in mid spring, but there's a scent
in the air that has electrified the collection of trees.
It's amazingly sweet, a floral display, yet I see no flowers.
Mother Nature's aromatherapy stepping into its rival will last only
a few short weeks, and then they'll be gone for
thirteen to seventeen years. I should be somewhere around seventy
five years old. Are we going to be lucky enough
to be here? See? It's moments like this that become
instantly long gone and forgotten because if I walk around
and talk with anybody inside this forest about the cicadas
of twenty twenty four, you might get that shrugged look
like I guess it happened. I just know that they
were so damn noisy. They were just always making noise
day in and day out. Though cicadas just wouldn't quiet down.
And yet when you look beyond the surface of the
noise makers, there's always a story. There's always something there
bringing that we totally cannot see. And yet, like I said,
the aroma of the forest on this spring day was unforgettable.
And to read about it all these years later, because
this was May fourth, twenty twenty four, in today's date
is October twenty ninth, twenty twenty five. Look at all
of this time that has gone by, and yet the
writer spoke of the aroma and the sounds of the
cicada which we're appearing for the first time in thirteen
to seventeen years. If you could just take the time
to document the mile markers, then you two a year
year and a half later could sit there and go,
I do smell it even today. Try it sometime with
something that's very new to you. Document your personal experience
is good, bad, ugly, insightful, just something to carry forward
with you so that when you do step back into it,
you're not relying on memory, because it's documented, it's factual,
it's right here in front of you. These aren't my words.
These are the lyrics from Ernie's Forest,