Well, Andy . . . I don't subscribe to BT Online and haven't read
the article/essay. I wasn't, in fact, commenting on anything you
wrote, but only on the warm and fuzzy tinge some of the message
in this thread seemed to be taking on. Bonsai don't "care" who
owns them, or even if they're owned. And, while I'll give people
trees every so often, cheapskate that I am, I hate like heck to
give away the pots! ;-)

In any event, I prefer not to imbue bonsai with too much
"deepness" or "significance." It is enough, I think, to enjoy
working with the trees and letting them be a means of relaxation
and perhaps, occasionally, creation (but that may be getting too
significant).

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is
frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry
David Thoreau - Walden


Hi Jim,

This (bonsai as "pets" or "family") was not the thrust of
either the
comments here or of my comments in the essay. The fact is that
the artist
and the tree have a partnership that necessitates cooperation
in ways not
found in most (any?) other art(s). Selling or giving away
something that is
unfinished, with the balance of "our" plans being unrealized is
a bit
different than selling/giving away a work of art/possession
that does not
carry this kind of baggage. This is not to say that doing so
involves an
overabundance of drama, but it is often a bit more difficult.

Anyway, let's not mischaracterize the gist here.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas
http://www.bunjindesign.com/bonsai/

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Lewis"
Bonsai aren't pets. Plants reciprocate no warm and fuzzy
feelings like a dog will (or a cat -- sometimes -- while you
are
petting it. There's absolutely no point in getting
emotionally
involved with a tree in a pot. There are always more where
that
one came from.
Enjoy them, by all means, but as "things" not as "family."
Jim Lewis


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