A break from Sushi Confidential for bonsai

Dear Blog Diary,

Mourning.

Yesterday my third favorite bonsai got stolen and I admit, I’m hurt by that.

It’s obviously apples to oranges but it’s something I nurtured for years, like an animal or a child. There’s a connection.

The irony is that bonsai are very unforgiving plants. Too much water or not enough, too much direct sun, or indirect light, avoid the afternoon intense sun, fertilizer, repotting, and we haven’t even gotten to styling, pruning, or wiring.

It’s likely that this person stole the tree and it will die from improper care. They didn’t even steal the humidity tray.

It’s ironic because you’re essentially saying “I am taking away the responsibility of being in service to this plant.” And they don’t love the plant like I do and they won’t care for it like I have.

I take pride in being accountable to that tree. I enjoy it.

Bonsai is special. It takes a lot of patience before you see the results. Takes months or years. They are a labor of love, for aesthetic that awakens sentiment.

Then it just gets snatched one night.

Ultimately it’s just a lesson in detachment. Although I stand by everything I just said, we lose everything in life and it’s important to not hold so much of ourselves in things. The Buddhist is coming out.

There is a difference when the loss comes from theft. It’s violating.

It’s an outdoor bonsai. It must go through the seasonal cycles or it will die. It was either hold it hostage inside while it dies or keep it be outside and risk someone taking it. My other indoor bonsai, they will die if you leave them outside in the winter.

There is anger and sadness.

I suppose what hurts is the idea of someone taking something that is so precious to me so easily. Got that one in Denver. Been through a lot.

The biggest irony is that this person is purely driven by ignorance. If they knew the tedious care it takes to grow a bonsai, forget the morality of stealing, they wouldn’t steal it out of respect.

I’m just assuming it was a young person who stole it. You can tell I’m getting old because I increasingly find young people insufferable.

But hey, to quote the nutsacks, “it’s not that deep.”

Best,

E

#ARTiculate