So its been a year...

[just.wing.it]

That first year is a doozie!
Glad you're here man, happy belated birthday!
Makes it easy to remember your bonsai anniversary, that's cool.
I don't really have an exact date of when I started....

 

[ajm55555]

When I was a kid, I remember a huge stone pine (Pinus Pinea) at my grandma's country house in Italy, that would drop a lot of nuts (yummy) and some of them would grow on the ground. I never heard the word bonsai at that time but I was fascinated at the idea of growing one in a pot and I did try it. They would always die so I got convinced it was impossible to grow a tree in a pot. Then one day I heard about bonsai and finally knew it was indeed possible. That's how it started for me.
PS the reason they would die was, of course, because I would not take proper care of them ;-)

 

[ajm55555]

BTW, this is the tree today... probably more than 300 years old.

View media item 3239

 

[ajm55555]

I'm forking this to a new thread ;-)

 

[CamdenJim]

Hello there,

So its been a year...
On this day exactly 1 year ago, I was given a Chinese Elm Mallsai,

I hate sending another "me too" birthday wish, though it would be genuine, and since I'm rapidly approaching the age my mother referred to as her "anecdotage," I'll just tell you a tale.

My grandson was a constant reader as a child, and as time went on he developed a taste for fantasy novels. When he was in middle school, maybe
fifteen years ago, he got very excited about The Wheel of Time, a series by Robert Jordan. Nothing would do but for me to read them too, so he could talk about them and I could listen. (Turns out they're well written, and I enjoyed them as well. And we did talk about the books and the fully developed characters in all 14 volumes.)

There a good guy/character in the series who describes a practice in his fictional culture in which a child is given a sword (and appropriate training) when he is old enough to use it well. That signals the start of his life, and his age is measured by that date for as long as he lives.

I like that whole concept so much that I started describing my age in those terms a few years ago. Not with a sword, but with a tree.

I'll be six years old in June, but my legal documents say I'm 70. You'll have many more years as a bonsaist. Enjoy every one of them as much as the first.

Jim

 

[ConorDash]

Aw guys .
Thank you so much for the kind words, quite unbelievable, really. I'm touched, honestly. I had no idea anyone would say these kinds of things. Its great

I look forward to the next year for my trees, the conversations to come on here, with you all and for myself. Much learning to be had, for all of us, to some extent .
Its a great journey!

 

[Paradox]

Congrats on making it the first year. That is the first milestone. Many lose interest and disappear before then.
But you still have a long journey ahead of you. Make sure you enjoy it and try not to let the weight of what you dont know become undaunting. Bonsai is not fast, no matter what you do. Learning patience can be the hardest lesson bonsai teaches us. One day, year and tree at a time and you'll get there.

I too, made yearly posts, usually around the first of the year rather than on my bonsai anniversary. Probably because it was a new year and its winter when trees are sleeping and not much else to do but reflect. I thought about doing it this year, but just never got around to it.

I am almost 6 years in and while I feel I have come a long way on my bonsai journey, I still have a lot to learn.
I dont think we are ever done learning in this hobby, which is what makes it so great.