Do you Want to Learn Patience? Grow A Bonsai
It is not an activity for the impatient
The entrance to the Supermarket was lined with miniature live Christmas trees. Red metallic wrapping paper transformed the unattractive black plastic nursery pots into festive items of desire.
On impulse, I picked one up and examined it a little closer. A white plastic label identified the specimen as a Picea Glauca Conica commonly known as a Dwarf Alberta Spruce. It was a beautiful tree, about as tall as my forearm, symmetrically shaped with bright green soft needles.
It came home with me.
The tree delighted my young daughter who decorated it with cranberries and assorted homemade doodads. It was during that holiday season that I came across a book titled Bonsai: Illustrated Guide to an Ancient Art.
It was published by Sunset Books, a company that in pre-internet days had cornered the market in self-help, do-it-yourself, how-to books.
Below a color photo of a smallish Chinese Wisteria in bloom the first sentence in the book read:
“To evoke the spirit of nature — that is the essence of bonsai.”
I found the statement inspirational.
The book contained a chapter on creating your own bonsai, a…
