You often hear the term “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”, well this is certainly the case for me.
I haven’t posted a single item in 5 years and 1 month. I couldn’t believe it when I went back to check my last post. They also say, (whoever they are…) that “Time flies when your having fun. During my 5 year leave of absence from bonsai and writing on this blog, there has been many times of laughter, times of joy and also times of difficulty, everyone can relate I am sure. But these past 5 years have seen a change more specifically, regarding my own family. When I last wrote a post in July 2015 I had 2 children, Noah and Maria. Since then our family has grown with the arrival of 4 more beautiful children, Aaron, Nathan, Samuel and only three months ago, in the height of the Covid-19 outbreak along came Sienna. Many other things have happened, but this I suppose has been the highlight of the past 5 years for my wife and I. So to say we have a busy house is an understatement. It is complete chaos at times but it is always vibrant and full of noise and full of life you might say.
The past few weeks though I started to look back on this blog. You see, even though life seemed full and always 100 miles per hour some days, I always missed bonsai. Just the ability to switch off and go out to the garden and water the trees in the evening. To listen to the water drip off the bench and experience the aroma of pine and juniper when admiring them up close. The ability to go and sit down in front of one of my trees and get lost in the possibilities and outcomes time could have on it. The excitement of discovering some raw material in a nursery. The desire to learn as much as you possibly can in books, club meetings and youtube videos. And the one that always stands out with me, is the spotting of potential yamadori while driving through the mountains or in the country side, even walking through the local forest. Even though I may not have been practicing our learning bonsai during this time, that never leaves you. Once bitten, I think it is true to say, you are left with a mark. All the above is laughable by someone who has not discovered the beauty and just how addictive bonsai can be.
So you could say I have been pining, pardon the pun over the chance to start fresh again. To start building a collection of bonsai slowly. To take time to learn and practice. To do it right. Any of the trees I had before I put away the scissors, was given to one of the lads in Munster Bonsai Club. And to be honest I hadn’t anything special to look at or of great value, but they were more sentimental as I had spent a a number of years working on, learning, making mistakes etc.
So now I have an opportunity to start again, and begin this journey of learning bonsai and hopefully with time developing my knowledge. I look forward to hopefully attending the club which I had helped to start way back with Piotr. Which is still going strong due to the dedication, consistency and love of bonsai by its members.
And of course I look forward to recording the journey, one step of a time, as I do believe there are so many people in Ireland looking to start or like me, maybe looking for that little push to get back into bonsai. The more that we can share and write about this passion on our little island the greater the possibility more people will hopefully follow.
Hopefully the next post wont take another 5 years……
Lyons Bonsai 