10/30/2002 Entry: "Bonsai Brain."

Sunday we went down to the Yamato Bonsai Club's 31st Annual show. We arrived in the middle of the demonstration by Sensei John Uchida. Impressive, seeing him clipping and bending and wiring a young tree into a shape that looked like it had been bent by the wind for years in just an hour. I do wish we'd have seen how the tree started, but given the extra heavy-gauge copper wire holding the trunk in place, I'd assume it began the demonstration fairly upright. We bought raffle tickets for the tree, but even with a ton of consolation and door prizes given away, we didn't leave with anything but pictures.

Of course, there were some amazing plants there—the ones that fascinate me most are the fruit trees, miniature versions of these plants which still bear enormous quinces or pomegranates. The miniature forests are amazing too, knowing that they started out as merely branches on a trunk.

It's enough to make me think about trying one of my own, but I'm hesitant. While my mother and grandmother are both extremely knowledgeable about plants, I wish it was something they could pass on to me genetically rather than having to earn it working at a nursery for years or studying. I mean, the Cast-Iron plant in my room is doing pretty well, but there's a reason they call it that. And frankly, I'm not that keen on dirt, either.

I was joking around beforehand, wondering if we'd see any Bonsai Mountains. Of course, there is really such a thing. I think nearly anything which we can see or touch has at some time been made into a smaller version that's better for contemplation than in the larger world. And why stop at nature? We can miniaturize everything. Bonsai computers, sure. Bonsai Houses. Maybe someday we'll be able to take Bonsai Cities out of computer simulation and into the "real world." When we're better able to control local gravity, will we have Bonsai Planets with their own night and day and tides and moons?

Why stop at the tangible? Maybe that's what this strange, small Web life, this thing behind the glass which seems so real, which has tiny roots that barely connect us yet seem enormous and ancient, really is: a Bonsai World, one we can hold in our hands and contemplate. Too high-falutin'? Maybe it's just the perspective from within my Bonsai Life, where everything is crafted to look just like the real thing—only on a much smaller scale.

I don't know. You'll have to come to your own conclusions. I've got email to write and endive to stuff.

Replies: One Comment

Bonsai are beautiful, no matter what they are, but they are quite nice in photographs and much easier to maintain. I can't imagine the trimming, tying, wiring, root slicing and bowl landscaping required for a bonsai planet. I'll just wait for a nice coffee table book.

Posted by Sherri @ 10/30/2002 02:40 PM PST