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 --> 00:01:24,560 it or it's buried somewhere inside their family tree. Hey, 27 00:01:24,599 --> 00:01:29,000 thanks for being a part of the conversation. Welcome back 28 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,439 to the forest. Wow, what a story we have in 29 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,079 front of us here, one that you would like to write. 30 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,079 But I spend so much time saying, don't write a 31 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,920 story before it happens. And yet you want to write 32 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:44,040 this story because you want to document something before it happens. 33 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,840 When the weather guys say what has headed our way 34 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:54,799 could be catastrophic, you stop, you look around, and you listen. 35 00:01:55,879 --> 00:01:58,560 This entire past week, I've spent all my time studying 36 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,879 the animals, watching the deer. Are they laying down? What 37 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,040 are the cardinals doing? Are the squirrels packing things up 38 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:09,120 and making their homes safer, stronger against winds? The cold 39 00:02:09,159 --> 00:02:12,240 that has actually just headed on his way here? What 40 00:02:12,319 --> 00:02:15,719 about the snow? The rain, and how about this even 41 00:02:15,759 --> 00:02:18,280 the ice that's coming this direction. And that's where they're 42 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:20,919 saying it's gonna be catastrophic because it could be three 43 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,080 quarters of an inch thick, which could bring down a 44 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,599 lot of these trees as well as our power line. 45 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,759 Catastrophic that's their word inside this forest today. And so 46 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,240 we're on this trail today walking through the forest very quiet. 47 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,439 It's almost like the squirrels have said, I'm going inside. 48 00:02:41,039 --> 00:02:44,039 Where are the deer? I don't even see them laying around? 49 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,960 Where's the hawk? Where's the owl? Where are my forest friends? 50 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:51,400 You know? I see sparrows here and there. I see 51 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,240 the wild finches here and there. I took out a 52 00:02:55,599 --> 00:02:59,360 ton of food so that they could eat it off 53 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:01,960 the forest floor today, But in doing so, I had 54 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,000 to remind myself that right now, if it starts raining, 55 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,360 then it isn't anything. It's just a bunch of mush. 56 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,000 And I don't see any of these animals eating mush. 57 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,639 Catastrophic is the word inside the forest today. We are 58 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:19,719 literally maybe maybe less than ten hours away from this 59 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:25,080 journey beginning, and you can't help but wonder is it 60 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:29,520 gonna be? We've had that before with tropical storms and 61 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:35,479 hurricanes and torrential swollen streams and big lakes that feel 62 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,560 like they want to take over your life and redesign 63 00:03:38,639 --> 00:03:42,000 the entire process and path of the journey of this forest. 64 00:03:42,759 --> 00:03:45,960 But then you remind yourself, this forest is all one 65 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,680 hundred percent nature made. This is not Low's, this is 66 00:03:49,719 --> 00:03:53,800 not home depot the word catastrophic. This forest knows that. 67 00:03:54,439 --> 00:03:56,759 And the thing about it is this forest is saying, Okay, 68 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:03,439 we've got this humen. Oh, you had to throw that in. 69 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:09,240 Huh oh hugh Amen. Hey, thanks for being a part 70 00:04:09,319 --> 00:04:10,080 of the conversation.