Arroe Collins Forest Stories

January 19, 2021 Words put into play inside my forest journal on November 9, 2020. I’ve done something extremely rare. It’s caused an odd feeling. Standing in my forest. I’ve come here to be present with the trees and nature’s music. The feelings deep within aren’t matching the peace filled atmosphere around me. It’s as if uncertainty has been heightened. And for what reason? We’re exhausted by th...

January 12, 2021 I’m not a dictionary freak but close to it. My writing instruments don’t come with spell check. It’s a hidden fear of what others will think of my words on paper. It’s already too far out there! I’ve always been fascinated with the way kids shape words. So often misspelled and yet I find it inspiring because their letter formations look better than what’s been labeled the right wa...

January 5, 2021 Where is your “There?” That place you go where positive flow and energy ignite the drive forward. A relationship. Not with a person but rather a place. I once thought my “There” was Timberline near Red Lodge, Montana. In 1992 I left something of great value up on that mountain near the frigid cold lake and stream. I did that to inspire myself to keep returning to my home state. I’v...

December 23, 2020 Becoming aware of your sub-cultured life. There’s the effect and the aftereffect. The physical act of belonging to without participating with the expected process designed to meet the demands of progress. Whoa! That was a lot to take in! The physical act of belonging to without participating with the expected process designed to meet the demands of progress. Being faith filled wi...

December 17, 2020 One of the most amazing things about 2020 is the number of brilliant sunsets we’ve fallen witness to. You can’t help but be present with an energy that doesn’t see you but it moves through you. To always catch a sunset doesn’t get old but as a human always on the run you can’t help but feel like a taker rather than a collaborator. No matter how hard we try to push ourselves onto...

December 8, 2020 We don’t need a posted note to remind us about how crazy our weather year has been. Have the tropical storms stalled or have we evolved into a new season? I find great peace in watching a tree leaf leap outward into its final dance. It’s as if they envisioned it from the moment they grew from a bud back in the spring. Watching the leaves glide through the invisible air has always...

November 17, 2020 I’ve made a change in my daily writing. Directing a lot of the attention toward a future reader. Recognizing them way back here in their presence of Now. It’s pretty difficult being open and honest with someone you’ll never meet. How do you tell them that your President once had Covid 19 and somehow someway got through it in a couple of days? There’ve been few changes in the nati...

November 10, 2020 What if we’re not supposed to be covering up the spots in our life that keep us from being featured on magazine covers? I love watching people at Home Depot and Lowes. Always buying patching kits. Got a dry patch in the backyard let’s get some miracle grow! No! Let’s extend the deck! Fix it to look good! I learn a lot from my forest. The most peace filled unbelievably un-perfect...

November 3, 2020 I used to say that my connection with all things nature was due 100% to my younger years in the extremely beautiful Big Sky Country of Montana. The seed may have been planted but it hasn’t been my entire journey. There’s a requirement in the furthering of such inner spirit and flow. Learning to love all living things includes spiders, snakes and snapping turtles. All living things...

October 27, 2020 As much as we continue to hear how ugly and evil 2020 is and continues to be is every reason to keep looking toward the trees. Just because the human has put a label on these 52 weeks doesn’t mean the rest of the world has to walk its daily path with its head hung. Nature is having a fantastic year! The beauty experienced in forests, open fields and high atop mountains continues t...

October 13, 2020 The things we do without knowing why we put so much energy into it. So many people have openly talked about loving the idea of knowing what our future holds. I shy away from such a feeling because if I knew what to expect I’d spend more time trying to change it. Like this forest that I live within. If I had known in 1992 what I see and experience today I’d be a completely differen...

October 6, 2020 It’s funny how life constantly evolves without physically identifying its chosen path or journey. I bring this up because as a child you’d never catch me outside during a strong passing storm. I’ve always believed I got into radio because of John Denver. A huge creepy burst of sky energy moving across the plains of Montana toward Billings and I’d rush to my room to put the earphone...

September 29, 2020 More than any time any other time in our life, everything about us is very much aware of how the atmosphere is endlessly changing. In a world forced to take a different path, all things moving from the clouds to the yellowed leaves falling to the ground to the pesky playful squirrels, the dampened human desire only feels like a cloud burst. I find myself staring at a lot of tree...

September 22, 2020 We can learn a lot from a tree. The first lesson would be patience. It’s a one hundred year old plant. Imagine facing the daily grind of having to stand there and never move your roots. The multiple storms it faces during the seasons. A tree can’t run inside while a tropical storm is passing. A tree can’t torch up the leaves on the forest floor to keep itself warm during the win...

September 15, 2020 How about that year 2020? This amusement park ride continues to deliver! And we keep showing up in line. Wouldn’t it be great if we could make the decision of enough is enough? On this podcast episode we’re jumping back to 8:09 am on August 9, 2020. Hold it. Wait a moment. All of these weeks just went by and I just noticed that the 5.1 earthquake that shook North Carolina took p...

September 9, 2020 I find great creative pleasure while writing in a forest. There’s something about the atmosphere that welcomes the human head and heart without there being judgement or an overbearing expectation that leads to silence. You’d never know how wrong the world is inside a forest. A recent RVing trip put me in the center of a long line of trees so willing to give. Within those sticks s...

September 1, 2020 The majority of us are well aware of the existence of the present. It then becomes a choice to participate with it or quickly scoot away. As we enter yet another month during these strange and twisty times, the thought of being in the presence of “Now” still serves as an invitation to shun what’s becoming numb. The more we see the pandemic, rioting, politics and bad weather condi...

August 25, 2020 I heard the best quote the other day, “When the world stopped we had someplace to go.” Most of us felt trapped in our homes. Kids were on the computer not playing games but learning new things from digital presentations designed by teachers then regurgitated by parents hoping to know the way. I remember talking to many creative people who had just lost their live stages, book promo...

August 18, 2020 Being one with nature isn’t anything new. My entire life has been spent studying animal habits and connections. What I’ve seen a lot of in the past ten years is a lack of fear from those living in the wild. The deer, rabbits, red tail hawks and owls aren’t so quick to hit the highway. They stand and stare at the presence of a human. As if to be studying us or offering companionship...

August 12, 2020 When was the last time you did nothing but sit next to the trunk of a tree? Sounds pretty silly in a world that’s gone crazy. Nobody wants to take on the appearance of a tree hugger. And yet the power a tree holds has the ability to consistently invite peace and direction into your life and unwritten chapters. On this podcast episode we open the door to a world I’ve been a part of...

August 6, 2020 There are no two forests the same. You can’t say a collection of trees is just another collection of trees. I’m sure you’ve noticed the amazing amount of people that have taken up walking outdoors during this Covid-19 continuation of shutdowns. Many walkers, bicyclists and joggers have hit the greenways and forests to locate their personal place of escape. On this podcast episode we...

July 29, 2020 A two week old fawn and its mothers came within six feet of where I was sitting. I couldn’t take my eyes off the most innocent pair of eyes. I was stunned by their lack of fear but more amazed at how much it felt like they were carrying something much larger than a greeting. On this podcast episode we travel back to my daily writing of July 5, 2020. A moment of question. We were obse...

July 22, 2020 Will anyone remember? With so much endlessly being pushed at us in the headlines, will anyone remember that SpaceX blasted two men toward the International Space Station? Will we remember the huge dust cloud from the Sahara? What will the impact of the cloud have on our yards and the mountain forests? On this podcast episode we jump into the subject of what it’s like to be a living t...

July 14, 2020 I’m not an expert on animal behavior but I’ve studied the spiritual energy of Animal Speak for several decades. Oh no! The Jesus loving freak reaches toward other avenues of communication! Yeah, well what if that man that once walked the planet actually speaks through animals to reach us? The energy of the universe uses them as an attraction. Once your wild out of control Covid-19 fe...

July 7, 2020 I love looking up words in the dictionary. Not to be a “know it all” but to see if we’re using them the way they were meant to be. I love the adventure the dictionary provides by way of how a word began and moved from country to country. I study the different definitions a single word can have. Not because I’m a book worm! I love words! On this podcast episode we look up the word fore...