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 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.
Welcome back to the forest. It's Christmas morning, no snow,
a little chilly, but very peaceful to walk through these trees,
to look at the lake, to experience this moment that
in itself is part of the gift, the gift from
the forest everybody that I'm running into out here within
these trees, you get that calm, warm, compassionate merry Christmas.
Done so in a very Southern way, because you know,
there's just something about the South. I can't ever put
my finger on it, but there's just something about the
South that even when they say bless your heart, you
know that there's something going on inside your soul. But
to be in this forest on Christmas Day, it's such
a warm feeling It's like we look at each other,
all of these living creatures, the squirrels, the hawks, so
many deer, and we just whisper Merry Christmas because we've
done another year together, whereas some people say, we made
it another year around the sun. And what an amazing
sun it has been on this forest this year. Not
too hot, very energized in the way of allowing new
growth to find their roots and to start reaching toward
the sky. That's what I love about this forest. There
are lessons to be learned every day if you take
the time to stop, just listen. Listen to the music
I call it jazz. Watch the wind as it goes
in between the leafless branches. Look at the ripples on
the lake. The stream is ever so slow because we
haven't had water in so long. But the forest is speaking,
and on this Christmas Day, it's saying Merry Christmas. Hey,
thanks for being a part of the conversation.