"alicia-dr-hankins" <alicia-dr-hankins@COX.NET> wrote in message
news:011201c4839d$04d8fcd0$27260e44@magikaltouch.. .
> hi,
> i would say you learned more than you realize... 
> **>> Seriously I have and will learn more from books and visiting here.
> **
> you may learn that you are lucky, knowledgeable and
> gifted to learn from text...most people aren't able to...
> you may have also learned that (we) you can't hold
> the same expectations on the bonsai club as you hold
> on the international community via the internet...
> they are different entities and need to have their own
> guidelines to judge them by...
> after all...your little town club won't have the diversity and
> experience that the internet can bring you...we can chat
> across countries with no boundaries...
> ---------
> ...you learned a lot about what you DON'T like...
> a negative role model is just as powerful as
> a positive one...so...take to heart what you experienced
> then visit again searching for what you can GIVE to THEM,
> then, maybe, you can see what they can GIVE to YOU...
> smiles,
> alicia
Thanks alicia, and to all who replied.
Funny you know, since posting the original message I received a phone call
from a member of the club who asked me if I was coming back. I said I was
unsure, and he understood quite well, and that I certainly wasn't the first
young newbie to be disheartened. He asked then if I would like any help, and
to call him if need be for any advice.
It has changed my opinion on members in the club, but in regards to
returning to club, I doubt it. I can identify pests/diseases, know use of
chemicals, understand light, water and fertiliser requirements and how they
work, and how ph can affect fertiliser/nutrient release and so on. However I
have trouble from the artistic side, knowing what to or not to prune. That
is what I'd like to learn, and while I know it's a personal thing, I would
like someone who knows what they doing to show me how they go about shaping
a plant. Books are helpful in that department.
The club just wasn't for me. 7 members, and what seemed to me, rather than
get together and learn about bonsai, it was more criticise bonsai, each
others, then sit around and talk about what is gossip in the small town
Anyway thanks for replies
Regards
Andrew