by George Buehler

2008 has drawn to a close, and we start a new year. For me, 2008 was a year of ups and downs, both personally and in regards to my bonsai.
As I start to write this, I am sitting on a cruise vessel steaming toward the Amazon. The seas are calm, the temperature is in the mid 80’s, and the sky is clear. It gives me time to reflect back on the weather in Louisville in 2008.

Who knew we would see the first hurricane in Louisville in 2008? I think most of us were lucky in that we didn't receive major damage from Ike, although some of our neighbors did. A lot of us have suffered through tornadoes in Louisville, but even the '73 tornado didn’t affect most of us the way Ike did. As we reflect back, we can only wonder at what Mother Nature can do.

Who knew we would have such a beautiful spring in 2008? I remember how beautiful my azalea bonsai were this past spring. I also remember how my cherry and plum tree bloomed profusely. I was about ready to give up on the plum, but perhaps it read my mind and gave me the joy of beautiful white blossoms for almost three weeks. I pulled up the pictures I took while they were in bloom, and once again I can only wonder at what Mother Nature can do.

Financially, 2008 was a disaster for most of us. We saw our 401K and stock accounts dwindle with the stock market roller coaster ride, but I guess it could have been worse. I’m still looking forward to going to the Shohin convention in St. Louis in April and the ABS symposium in Boise in June, but I probably will come back with fewer trees and supplies than I would normally have. As I think about others, I realize that it could have been much worse. I can only hope that other members did not suffer too badly.

Thinking about my bonsai, 2008 turned out to be a year that I lost one of my favorite trees - a Stewartia. The Stewartia doesn't like to be watered with high pH water. In Louisville, we have just that. Our water runs about 8 on the pH scale. When I bought the tree a number of years ago, I didn’t do what I have written about in these pages a number of times, and that is research what the tree needs. If I had before I bought it, I probably wouldn't have spent the money. But since I did, I fought the water problem continually, and I lost the battle. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way (I sound like my father now).

Another thing I can reflect back on is the decision to reduce my bonsai collection. I decided to get rid of some of my “stuff” this year. I plan on putting that up for sale at Yew Dell this spring. Perhaps others can take better care of them and turn them into real bonsai. I hope you remember the article I ran by Mary Miller on “stuff”. If not, look back to the October 2005 issue of this newsletter to see what she has to say about "stuff". Anyway, I made the decision that I could realistically only take care of so many trees, and I need to get rid of some. Lee Squires (our new president for 2009) has often said that you can only “properly” take care of 30 or so trees before the hobby consumes you. I guess I have finally reached that point.Everyone in bonsai realizes that that type of thinking only lasts as long as we don’t see that “perfect” tree which we have to have.

Yes, 2008 was a good year overall, but we now need to stop reflecting on 2008 and start thinking about 2009.

I started looking at articles for this coming year. I try to plan 3 or 4 months ahead so I can get them in good order. We now have two plant experts who routinely contribute to this newsletter – Ross Clark and Randy Davis. Of course, you don’t have to be a plant expert like these two gentlemen to contribute an article.

Due to the lack of response by our members to multiple meetings during the month, your BOD decided to have just one each month. The calendar is presented on page two. PLEASE mark these dates down and attend the meetings. We start off 2009 with a new type of workshop. Yes, this is a rather expensive workshop, but, when you consider the results, the cost is small. In a rather short time, you will end up with a tree that would take a lifetime to obtain. Hopefully, we will get a large turn out for this workshop!