The Hail-Mary

In 1994, even as I was working toward the goal of a regional bonsai community with The North Carolina Arboretum at its center, I was trying to accelerate my personal bonsai learning curve. Word reached me early in the year that Yuji Yoshimura was going to be in Charlotte, doing a workshop program for the Bonsai Society of the Carolinas. Ever since meeting Mr. Yoshimura at the convention the year before I had been trying to figure out how to pursue the tantalizing offer of personalized instruction with him.

peopleJournal EntrySeptember 15, 2023summer 2023, year2, yoshimura Comments

Meeting Yoshimura

He didn't crack this like an obvious joke. He said it straight faced and then went about his business. This was one of several instances during the program where Mr. Yoshimura projected what I took to be an iconoclastic tendency. He was conservative in his appearance, precise and formal in manner, but seemed rebellious in his attitude. At the conclusion of the program I turned to Janet and said, "What a dangerous old man!"

peopleJournal EntryJune 30, 2023summer 2023, year2, yoshimura Comments

Virginia

It's the detail work, the non-glamorous, time-consuming, tediously repetitive labor done with tools like tweezers and a dental pick, that really elevates the quality of a bonsai and makes it shine. Virginia went about her business with a seriousness of purpose and unremitting focus that belied any suggestion the work was menial.

peopleJournal EntryMarch 17, 2023winter 2023

Memories of a Distant April

When I think back on that time in Washington so long ago the memory is golden to me, an experience that positively changed my life. Connections made there that April led to other important learning experiences in the years to come, eventually taking me all the way to the other side of the world and back again.

people, historyJournal EntryApril 22, 2022spring 2022