I didn’t mean to do it. Honest. And I feel awful too, absolutely horrible. I have killed my son’s Bonsai tree.
Bonnie-as she was known-was purchased from a special market that only comes to our city twice a year. They have wonderful stalls, one that makes French crepes, a subtle flick of the wrist and your pancake is done to perfection, sugar or syrup added and it is presented to you in a paper cone. No bits stuck to the ceiling as you try and flip, no acrid black smoke drifting through the house…A hand made chocolate stall, rich and dark, glistening with the sheen of luxury and finished with points of nut, sugared flowers…ethnic stalls with clothes and bags, bright zigzags of colour against the usual dull grey of the market square. An amazing Baltic Amber stall, chunks of the past polished and made into wonderful things…like trees…Yes, I know, I’m evading the issue…
My son and I were wandering entranced through the stalls when his eyes fell upon one previously unnoticed, selling Bonsai trees. His face lit up and he set off with determination. Even then, my heart sank a little, as I am not the world’s best gardener and any houseplants I am given are usually re-homed for their own safety.
Moss Agate – the ‘gardener’s talisman’ and beneficial for increased plant growth…
However, these little trees were robust and jolly. Perfect miniatures of their giant counterparts, tiny leaves of emerald and jade, glowing with health and vitality. Some even had little flowers, dainty and delicate, that looked as if any minute a tiny fairy would pop out from behind its gnarled trunk.
After much debate and conversation with the stallholder, my son decided upon a Chinese honeysuckle. Not quite as aged as the others, her delicate trunk bore aloft fine branches and tiny twiglets, carrying miniscule leaves that shone green in the sun, bursting with health and vigour.
Proudly, my son bore her home, studied the instruction leaflet assiduously and installed her carefully in the optimum spot in his room. He named her Bonnie, spoke to her tenderly, watered her carefully and gently dug in the pellets of feed.
At first, Bonnie seemed to relish the attention, she stretched out more branches that my son carefully tweaked away to maintain her neat shape. Then something went wrong. She had a little accident where the cat sat on her…but nothing to DIE about. Her leaves lost their gleam. She seemed somewhat pallid and unhealthy.
Then one day when my son was at college and the sun was shining, I thought:
“Perhaps she’d like a change of scene. The fresh air and sunshine might cheer her up.”
I carefully placed her on the garden table and left her. Overnight. I forgot.
When my son left for college the next day I rushed out and brought Bonnie in. She looked…crispy. As I looked, a couple of leaves fell off. I elected for the coward’s way out and replaced her in my son’s room still looking…crispy. Later, my son said:
“ Bonnie’s not looking too well, perhaps I’ll water her, and give her a bit of Reiki. Maybe gridding her with Clear Quartz points and Moss Agate will help.”
Numbly, I nodded my head. Personally, I thought it was too late as Bonnie had probably already left for the big forest in the sky…
I love my son. He’s had some unpleasant incidents in his short time on this earth, but he remains calm, kind, immensely compassionate and forgiving… I told him what I had done. A brief look of pain crossed his face. Then he said:
“It’s all right. We can get another one when the market comes again.”
A weight lifted off my conscience, but the black stain of murder remains in my mind. I’ll buy him an Amber tree…what could possibly go wrong with that?
Oh Samantha, you wanted to help Bonnie feel better when she was already on her way to the great forest in the sky. You may have sped up the process and reduced her suffering. Everyone who knew Bonnie will be richer for the experience and sometimes these beautiful wise souls only spend a limited time in our presence. Her soul was too big for a tree whose growth had been restrained for the sake of design. A deliciously written post Samantha and the amber tree is beautiful. Much love to you xxx
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I replied to my own post..not your lovely comment! Sorry-please see below…
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Thank you…both for your sensitive response and words of comfort. I feel a little better now, you put it so beautifully. Thank you very much, as always, for reading and commenting. : ) xxx
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You are very welcome 💜💜🐾🐾
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Oh no, poor Bonnie the Bonsai!
Well, I’ve heard they are notoriously hard to care for, so don’t feel to bad..!
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Thank you, I thought I was acting with her best interest at heart as well. I think I’ll just stick to crystals…
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What a lovely boy your son is! And who knows, Bonnie may yet rally…
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Umm, no. She is travelling, via the garden waste recycling bin, to that great forest in the sky …
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Oh…well erm…adieu and ‘bonnie voyage’??
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Sadly..yes. (And hope that the market comes back soon!)
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Aww!! Don’t feel bad! I loved your title of this post. Your son understands and that is most important and the rest is…get another when the market comes again as wisely said by your son😊
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Ha ha yes! That particular item will be top of my shopping list!
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This is beautiful Sam, as are your conscience and confession. Not everyone has a knack for trees! God gives life and only He can take it away. For our instruction and our good, He does the taking away through us.
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Thank you…have decided I am obviously one of those people! And I will pass your kind words on to my son : )
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Hi Samantha ! What a great post have a wonderful day and I’m sure Bonnie is now a giant big sequoia !🌳
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Hi-thank you for your comment and what a wonderful image! Hope you have a great week end. : )x
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I kill pretty much plants I encounter (it’s meant to make you feel better, you know, the type of: ‘it could be worse’ cheering up technique). Well, maybe it’s a life lesson? And is supposed to teach you about our mortality or something? And bonsai trees are bound to have a short life-span, surely…
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This man had bonsai that were 30 years old…I think the lesson I learned was there are plant people…and not-plant people. The rise and fall of Bonnie the bonsai just confirmed my suspicion that I am a new category…the Monty Don’s worst nightmare person..!
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Hey,don’t feel bad.It WAS an accident and I think you should buy a very special bonsai tree for your son’s birthday.If it’s after the day of the market,you should keep it for him.
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Thank you for commenting and your suggestion- I just hope the market comes back soon!
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We don’t think it was your fault, Samantha. Bonnie was probably ready to go into a new dimension…just like our baby apple tree, that bloomed in Spring and drowned right after 😦 No, no, it wasn’t me…honest 😉 Pawkisses for better luck with the new… Amber tree 😀 ❤
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Thank you for your kindness…I’ve come to accept that some trees just aren’t…meant to be, like your apple tree…thank you for reading and commenting : )xx
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If it makes you feel better I got my
Mom a bonsai tree as a gift once and she was a master gardener and it still managed to die even under her meticulous care. I suppose maybe it was just Bonnie’s time. I’m glad your son was so understanding.
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Thank you, that’s reassuring. They are supposed to be so easy to look after…I think people who say that have never owned one! Thank you for reading and your lovely comment : ) x
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