I would like to make a list of people, bonsai people, to whom I owe special thanks. As am I walking down Appalachian Trail I will be talking and when I write it down it will be a blog entry. I will make it in reverse chronological order.
The first person who comes to mind is, of course, Carrie. Carrie makes bonsai to be much more fun because she is awesome. She lives very close to me. I actually got Carrie into bonsai. We met in a yoga studio. We get together, we do bonsai, she helps me, I hope to think that I help her and any hour that I spend with Carrie doing bonsai is so much better for it. Thank you Carrie for being my friend and for making bonsai more fun on a daily basis.
The second person I should mention is Roy Minarai. I have been talking to Roy for a few months on Facebok and I finally got to meet him when he came down to our Show. There is something about this guy that just makes you feel glad to be alive. He’s got a wonderful energy about him, not to mention his ceramics that are mind boggling. As far as glazes go right now I don’t anybody who does work that comes close to his. Very deep, very complex, very emotional glazes.
Next person to mention would be Jeremiah Lee. Jeremiah, again, I knew through Facebook. I met him through an old friend. I only met him once when I was in California. We have been communicating over Facebook. He is just good all-around dude, again group of those naturally enlightened dudes. I would like to think that I have been helpful in a very small part to him, but definitely I am the winner from getting to know him because I feel like I have gained so much, on a personal and emotional level, from having someone like Jeremiah to just talk with.
Next person I should mention is Mike Blanton (m voice is faltering a little). I wrote a tiny little blog entry where I mention both Jeremiah and Mike. I only Met Mike once, again, but followed him on Facebook for a while before he passed. I remember thinking “Wow, this dude’s life is so awesome! He is doing bonsai every day, posting trees that he worked on.” Then I found out that he had a stage four lung cancer and that really had an effect on my life and my lifestyle because I decided I did not want to wait until I have a terminal disease to do things that I love to do. That really slowed me down, or helped me to slow down four years ago. My colleagues might not be happy about it but I think I am a better man for it.
Next person I should mention is yet another person I only met once – Jonas Dupuich. I met Jonas once when I was visiting Peter Tea, but I should say that without Jonas I would not be where I am now because it was through his blog that I found out about Peter Tea’s visiting apprentice program that he started when he was at Aichi-en. Of course that naturally leads me into this whole Japanese connection.
Peter Tea himself I am very thankful to (I came across a couple of hikers. Voices in the background “Hi.” “Hi, I am doing a little journaling.”) Peter, I don’t know why, but Peter, I guess out of the goodness of his heart, figured that being an apprentice in Japan is not enough hard work and he decided to share it with the rest of us and he started allowing people to come in and teaching them and hosting them and taking care of them. And I don’t know how many others that benefited from that, but man, have I. I owe a debt of gratitude to Peter because this is when I really got a glimpse at the world of bonsai, in Japan, I should say, but also that created a lot of connections in the US. Peter, a lot of us are indebted to you, but I know that I am.
And through Peter I met Juan Andrade, my brother from another mother. I don’t think that calling Juan a friend is going to do it justice – Juan is family. I am not sure that I would right away give Juan a kidney if he needed but I would have to think hard about it and ask my life. Juan, as long as I live there is a place for you to stay and I am looking forward to having more Chicharones in Costa Rica.
Last but definitely not least, my oyakata, Junichiro Tanaka. A man who let me into his house. A man who is at the epicenter of Peter’s and Juan’s rising up. A man who allowed Peter to bring foreigners to stay at his house. And a man who on a number of occasions had to slow down eating because I was flopping my big mouth open during lunches and dinners with clients. Oyakata, I hope you can feel the love that many of us feel for you.
This list is no way comprehensive. That’s just what I could think about while hiking on the Appalachian Trail at five thousand feet elevation. Over and out.
