Speaker 1: Ernie. Yeah, Ernie, he's my Blue Crown Conyre. For over
thirty two years he has overlooked this forest right here
in South Charlotte, North Carolina. I mean every day Ernie
sits in his beautiful home, overlooking the trees, the nearby lake,
and every bit of the wildlife that's strolling peacefully through
this amazing piece of land. Ernie and I share the
same vision. It's this forest. We both look into these
trees and study the earth below. There's just something very
spiritual here. The lyrics to Ernie's Forest, we both receive
an amazing amount of energy. I put all of my
trusts and skills as a student into what he is
willing to share with me. These are not my words,
These are the lyrics from Ernie's Forest, chapter number four
hundred and sixteen, March second, twenty twenty four. A somewhat
tall tree with yellowed leaves sets within this forest where
ninety eight percent of the elms, oaks, and others are
totally leafless. How does this one tree get to keep
all of its leaves. It's a total standout. I'm not
sure it's saying, hey, look at me. It's going to
be fascinating to watch this tree as spring begins to blossom.
Do the leaves return to being green after thirty two
years in this forest? Why does this one tree seem
to be truly getting my attention. It's not that it
was transplanted, nor did it suddenly fall from the sky.
A total standout that has caught the attention of my
imagination that's always listening to the trees. I love their stories,
their presence and stamina to take on the storms and
somehow keep those leaves. Learning from this one tree, I'd
say its message is all about being yourself, to not
be judged, but rather loved, to ask for nothing more
than a daily ray of light. It's one hundred percent
okay to be absolutely unique. I think the true message
here is is that this one tree that caught my
attention just in that one moment. It wasn't screaming, hey,
look at me. It was saying I have a story.
And when you sit down and you listen to the stories,
this can include people as well. You're going to grow
in ways that gives you the information. We're always saying,
I can't find the answers. I went on the web,
I went to chat GPT. I went here, I went there,
but we didn't physically listen to everything that was taking place.
And on this particular day, this tree was the storyteller.
In fact, when you live in a forest like this
every day, these trees are a storyteller. But you've got
to learn how to take your time by living in
the presence of right now. Everybody is complaining about how
time is moving too quickly. There's a way you can
slow it down. Be right here, right now, like it
or not. And if you don't like your present place
of now, learn from it, listen to it. You've got
a beautiful array of leaves and flower petals all over you,
but do you see them? I marrow. These are not
my words. These are the lyrics from Ernie's Forest.