Every morning since moving to Colorado I have been taking morning hikes with my dog, Yuki. We go to a trail near home, and I’m thrilled that this area provides great inspiration, in the form of natural bonsai.
Pine tree seeds fall in the cracks of boulders throughout the trail and on those cracks they establish a niche. Against all odds they survive, and unintimidated by their larger neighbors they carry on, not minding the convention of what a tree should be like.
The thwarted trees are as inspiring to me as they have been to people in Japan for hundreds of years. Like tenkara, I believe what we now know as bonsai was not so much invented as it was discovered. Small trees on rocks, trout rising to insects. Over time the techniques for both tenkara and bonsai cultivation have been refined, but nature was most certainly the original inspiration.
The world did not end today, so hopefully its natural wonders may inspire you in one way or another today.
Facebook Comments
5 Responses to Inspiration: Natural Bonsai Tour
Leave a Reply
« Winter Tip: Leave your Boots Outside = no Didymo Top 10 posts of 2012 »
“Pine tree seeds fall in the cracks of boulders throughout the trail and on those cracks they establish a niche. Against all odds they survive, and unintimidated by their larger neighbors they carry on, not minding the convention of what a tree should be like.”
This should be added to the dictionary meaning of tenkara fly fishing as they both travelled the same path and not minding the convention of what fly fishing is thought of in this world.
TJ
TJ, indeed that’s what I was thinking too. Tenkara is the bonsai version of fly-fishing
Beautiful observation of our local flora, Daniel. I trust you are enjoying your new home. I look forward to meeting you someday soon now that you live in the neighborhood.
Great post! So appropriate to the season. The natural bonsais you describe are as good a gift as one could want, like our beloved trout.
There’s a tree I’ve been visiting for years while fishing. The tree took root in an old stump that’s sometimes submerged next to a bluff. The tree has grown from a pencil sized sapling to a twenty foot tree over the years. It’s always a great sight to behold.