Forest Stories Episode One Hundred Seventeen Be Careful Of What You Could Step In

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Welcome to four stories.

A series of short-winded adventures within a collection of skyscraping trees stuck feet first in Georgia clay right here in Carolina.

It's been a huge part of my daily journey for over 33 years.

I am the poet in the forest, a children's series written and recorded in the 1990s.

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 array of natural animals.

There were families and business owners who are said to have raised 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.

Hey, thanks for coming back to the forest.

The moment, you know, I'm not alone, but I'm not going to be that guy, which makes me alone.

That guy who just saw his dog leave something behind.

It never smells good. It never will.

And what's the one thing that you did that a lot of people do?

They either forgot the poop bag, or they just don't care about the poop bag.

Well, I do care, and I am a little bit disappointed that I walked freely of the house to come out into this beautiful forest

to now have my hand holding on to something that once belonged to my beautiful pointer, my disaster artist, Jazzy.

I can't do it. I can't see her do what she does.

And then I walk away from that knowing what could be on that path for somebody else to step in.

And usually it's when they least expect it.

And what do they do in that moment of now?

They will sit there, and they'll curse at people like myself.

But I'm not going to be that person. That's why I'm not going to be alone on this idea of use your God-given hand

and pick up the junk.

Do not leave a dog's trash on a forest floor.

But obviously we know someone, we have been someone,

or we have been disappointed with someone who has made that decision

to just let their dog poop and keep on walking.

Because poop is what we all do. You see that book?

Yeah, but how do you feel when you walk into a public bathroom

and someone didn't clean up after themselves? You don't like that, do you?

Ooh, it smells.

But yet we elect to do it inside a forest in a park,

but you're going to have to use something to clean that up

so that your dog something doesn't create a trail that someone's going to

kind of just take into their office, their home,

maybe they're going from a walk in the forest right into their car

and all of a sudden they realize

even though they stop by McDonald's to get those prince fries,

he doesn't really smell like fries anymore inside that car.

What do you do? How do you grow from it?

What do you learn?

Is it part of taking care of a forest?

I've seen people that'll see their dogs do the do

and they'll use their toes to kick it off the path.

And I say, hmm, hmm.

I don't know if that's right either.

And yet I'll see the deer with their little pebbles.

I'll see the rabbits with their little marbles.

I'll see the hawk and oh my God when we were on Lake Wiley one time

and that eagle released its load,

not even three feet from us inside the kayak.

You sit there and you go, whoa,

if I would have stepped in that swam and that,

if I would have touched that,

I would come out as the monster of the blue lagoon.

So that's the situation.

Stepping inside a forest

and it's something you shouldn't have stepped in.

Thanks for being a part of the conversation.