waltseed

Andy and others.
I am a relitive beginner at bonsai. but I have been near the top in other things, and I would like to make some comments.
I got a BS in physics. Then I went back and farmed with Dad for a few years. Doing physics professionally didn't have much appeal to me, I realized as a senior in college. It had never been much more than curiousity about the way the world works. The actual doing of serious experiments din't really interest me at that time. Reading the results did. And growing things did. So I went back to the farm.
But my senior year, I took a beginning course in genetics. And while farming, I would alwaysa wonder if a given supeerior plant was superior because of better genetics, or because a cow had planted a cow pie at that spot.
I read everything I could on genetics, started breeding iris and a few other plants. I loved it! In about 4 years I went to grad school in genetics.
As a husband of one and a father of two, graduate school was tough. But I loved every minit of it. It was the same feeling I had working with iris etc. before grad school. But I was working at a more effective level. And the level was rising daily.
After 2 years of rigourous instruction and study, I found myself in Africa (Niger) in charge of vegetable research for the whole country. It was the same feeling I had working with iris etc. before grad school. But I was doing more good, getting more results, others were glad to do the grunt work so I had more time to plan and do the breeding. I was making good money, too, but that was a side issue. The plant breeding was why I jumped out of bed and got to wort by 6:30 evry morning. The joy of plant breeding was the same.
During this time in Africa, I realized that while the principles of genetics were the same, and experimental methods hadn't changed, sometimes the plants responded much differently from the published results in temperate regions. This puzzeled me a great deal.
Then one day a Dutch vegetable breeder working in Nigeria showed up and wanted to talk about results he had that contradicted some of the published results from temperate regions. He had two of his graduate studants with him.
We talked for about 12 hours straight. We began to compare results and see why things were going like they did.

Now I would like to make a comprison between that discussion and an online group.
There were just four of us. The exact number isn't critical, but it was few enough that we could each say what was on our mind and be heard.
Online we can post what we want, but there is no guarantee that we will be read or undestood. And there is a real possiblity that we will be missunderstood and severely criticised. Also the possiblity that one will be understood and severly criticised.
Online people may compliment or downgrade our work. In that group, we were all devoted to the problem at hand, Personalities mattered little. Egos mattered even less. What mattered was that we had found someone who understood the problems, and had pieces of the puzzel we were working on.

As a hobbiest, I had gone to some conferences, and herd speakers tha I understood a little. I was dazzeled by what they were doing. I loved it.
As a grad studant, I had attended seminars, and given a few. At that time I had done complete litterature searches on certain narrow topics, and had read everything ever written on that small area. I could converse more or less as an expert in those very tiny fields. I loved it.
That day in Africa, when Dr. Van Amstel and I were talking, together with his grad studants, we were the experts of two whole countries. I wasn't thinking of that at the time. But I loved it.

So to bring this long piece of typing to a close, if not a conclusion, I encourage everyone to learn by any means you can all that you can about bonsai, or what ever your passion is.
I can't afford to go study bonsai under some teacher. A seminar is a distant dream. But I have read many books, and am looking for better books that have been recomended. I have collected a few trees and started hundreds of seedlings. I glean what I can from groups like this, mostly lurking because I am new at this, and I go out and look at trees.
What I have gotten out of bonsai so far is mostly a new way of looking at big, wild, trees.

In 10 years or so, I hope to have some real nice trees. It occurred to me after starting hundreds of seeds this year that on retirement, I might get a modest income from selling my practice trees. The nicedst mallsai around.
But whtever level I reach, I'll be loving it.

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Waltseed