Goals or concepts in the world of bonsai
THERE ARE A NUMBER of goals or concepts in the world of bonsai. Beauty. Grace. Symmetry. The interweaving between between nature and living art. And things that are harder to describe. Part of it is recreating in miniature the effect of a large, old tree. Weathered and bent, perhaps, but still strong. I rescued this little juniper, now about 10” high, a couple of years ago from Home Depot. It was an unhealthy mound of foliage with a very bleak future. Now it reminds me of some of my favorite tall white pines of the North Woods, proud and healthy—waiting, perhaps for an eagle to come and land among its limbs. Maybe even to build a nest.
We have eagles nesting less than 100 yards from the cabin, in an actual white pine. They pay no attention to this little tree, of course. But I like to sit next to it. To be still. To admire its shape and its beauty, and to remember other trees I have loved.