The Portland Bonsai Village Goes On The Road!

That title sounds like an intrepid traveling band, but no, we don’t sing. Or play, I think. But then again, if anyone wants Ryan Neil and I to sing, we might consider about $8,000 per minute. Although I can’t speak for Ryan, you might pay ME that much to stop. It would be an awful lot like a vocal version of ‘The Full Monty’, and that amount of soul selling comes with a lead-weight price tag.

Ryan with his demo tree at the Portland airport.

When Ryan and I realized we’d be flying down for the Lone Star Bonsai Federation convention on the same day, we booked the same flight for some chat time. Getting to the airport was a story in itself. I got a text at midnight from Ryan saying that he was bringing his demo tree and that the box was big and awkward, and could I wait for him at the airport to watch over the box while he parked. By some miracle we met there the next morning within two minutes of each other coming from remote parts of Portland.

A workshop moment- photo courtesy Christopher Scholz

The Texas convention was a glory. One of the tightest organizing teams we’ve ever seen, the LSBF folks were stellar, and they also put together a nice display with some thoughtful trees. Kathy Shaner was presenting there as well, and I’d not seen her for a while. It was an extra plus to have some nice talks with our pioneering bonsai artist.

In addition to a few things about bonsai, the Portland Bonsai Village team offered our hard-won knowledge that included the toilet roll mystery, the squid gut story, the how to hide a holly from your master story, and the oddity of an Andre Agazzi mohawk on an old ginko. If you’ve not the faintest idea what I’m talking about you obviously should have been there.

In the future we’ll be looking for roadies to carry monstrous boxes. Groupies welcome. Sanity optional.

Second…or third… demo tree of Ryan’s. Photo: Christopher Scholz.