Forest Stories Episode One Hundred Five The Leaves That Leave

Thanks for being part of the conversation I am the Poet In The Forest. A children series I penned out in the 1990s. None of it would be possible if it wasn’t for this forest in South Charlotte, NC. I talk about it so much that I thought maybe it’s time you get to meet all that inspires me. Thanks for being part of the conversation

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, when it comes to podcasts listening, are you like me?
I mean, it's like television surfing. You're like all over
the place looking for that one thing that you can
add to your moment of now. Be it fest stories,
be it rockstar stories, talking with a chef, whatever you're
looking for. That's what aro dot net is all about.
Arrooe dot net. The searching is over. It's all in

(00:20):
one place. Enjoy the exploration. Hey, thanks for being a
part of the conversation. Welcome to foest Stories, a series
of short winded adventures within a collection of skyscraping trees,
stuck feet First and Georgia Clay right here in Carolina.
It's been a huge part of my daily journey for
over thirty three years. I Am the Poet in the Forest,
a children's series written and recorded in the nineteen nineties.

(00:44):
It's grown into multiple podcasts that now reach around the world,
and none of it would be possible without this forest
right here in South Charlotte, North Carolina, at the base
of Heartbreak Hills. It's a sign that reads Rainbow Forest. Well,
it's time you get to meet what's inspired several generations
long before the paved paths decorated with colorful homes colonized
around this beautiful lake, slow moving stream, flatland swamps and

(01:07):
array of natural animals. There were families and business owners
who are said to have raced into this area for
the beauty of the land, wild roses, migratory birds, and
wild grapevines. Those before me either forgot to write about
it or it's buried somewhere inside their family tree. Hey,
thanks for being a part of the conversation.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Welcome back to the forest. What I would like to
capture today is Chassy walking through all of these leaves.
This is her love in life, all of these trees,
and the beauty of those trees are the leaves they've done,
the color changing oranges, browns, yellows. I've seen some blues

(01:49):
and some grains. And then when they're all right up
and there on the ground and around this forest floor
she's walking through, it's music to me. It's like when
somebody is typing, or there used to be a teletype
machine in radio stations to just go and listen to
the pity patter, pity patter, pity patter, pity patter. There's

(02:12):
just something about that that really soothes the soul, and
that's what this forest does. It's like coming out of
the home today, to step out of this path. Somebody
made mention of all the crows being noisy. I don't
hear noisy crows. I hear music. It may not be
Taylor Swift or justin Timberlake, but it's a crow. And

(02:34):
the crow has their own way of bringing sounds to
this forest, that of being in warning form, or for
them just to make a lot of noise, because my god,
it's a beautiful day in a forest. We're gonna make
some noise because somebody has thrown out some old bird seed,
and my god, get as many birds over there so
they can pack up some fun there. Often wondered about
that when people throw their bird seed outside, or when

(02:57):
people are putting out bird food, and we all know
what happens there. The squirrels get it. Those squirrels. Are
they the luckiest people or the luckiest animals on the planet,
or do those squirrels in making their own noise in
sight as well as sound. Do those squirrels they're basically
attractions to adventure. They like to go where nobody else will.

(03:22):
Because I have seen the squirrels we've got black squirrels
in this forest. In South Charlotte, North Carolina, people go
black squirrels. I've seen a white squirrel in western North Carolina,
but not a black squirrel. I've done the research. I
don't know how it got here because black squirrels are
usually found in England. Maybe somebody brought one back home,
set it free in the forest, and all of a

(03:42):
sudden we've got this taking place, which is very beautiful
because I love it when these black squirrels have no
problem going up to a hawk or an owl that's
perched inside a white pine and they look at them, going,
what do you want to do about it? I know
I'm the squirrel, but if this were a Western movie

(04:02):
on grit TV, I'm the person in the black cowboy hat.
What do you want to do about it? Do you
want to fight me now? Or do we just want
to just look at the world and say can we
just get along? See? It's all part of the leaves
being on the ground. Everything is a leaf on the ground.

(04:23):
It is the melody that is presented by a forest
that is so willing to speak. So and why are
so many people walking through this forest on a day
like this because there's beauty, because there's melody. These are
the people that understand that ugly torn down trees on
the ground can add feed to a soil that you

(04:45):
will need in twenty twenty five years, because that's what
builds tomorrow in a forest. And if you're a passer
by of this forest, imagine what it does inside your
structured world. Hey, thanks for me the part of the
conversation