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I should interject at this point that there was considerable discussion as to whether the Toronto Bonsai Society should undertake this endeavour at all, seeing that it would probably be subjected to all kinds of abuse for having the gall to usurp a leading role in this connection. Thankfully, though, our executive, with the foresight that only comes to people in groups of more than twelve, brushed aside all such arguments and proceeded, nolens volens, on the course of national destiny. And here we are, three years later, two and a half years overdue but 334.7% over budget, yet all well within the limits of our national character, ready to report our findings and to make useful recommendations that can easily be ignored. The first and most pressing decision facing the panel was the one regarding the national tree. Many valuable suggestions were made by concerned bonsai enthusiasts, indicating the diversity of plant material at our disposal in this land between the seas, but, in the end, how could we choose anything but the good old Canadian maple tree? Certainly no spruce, tamarack, jack pine or cedar is as readily identified as Canadian as a maple. So what if the leaves are the size of soup plates - this is a big country, and our bonsai should have leaves to match. Having decided on the national tree, the panel turned its attention, undividedly, to the choice of a suitable container. With our pot industry being concerned mainly with the production of clay pipes, there was little to choose in the way of indigenous ceramic containers. A real dilemma! However, the panel being comprised of extraordinarily imaginative people, a solution to this puzzle was arrived at fairly quickly once it was realized that the national container should symbolize as many of the country's outstanding features as possible. Well, what are the features that will, alone or in combination, conjure up the image of Canada in the minds of the peoples of the world? Woods, mounties and snow should just about fill the bill. How does that translate into a bonsai container? Well, what does a mountie use when he pursues his man through the wintry forest? Snowshoes, of course. Snowshoes - pleasing of form and providing good drainage - the quintessential Canadian bonsai container! |
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There was one other close contender for the honours of national bonsai container. A little less well known, perhaps, but possibly more versatile. Of course, it also has its roots in the Canadian winter. The rubber! Its advantage over the snowshoe is that it comes in a variety of shapes, from very shallow to cascade. Most of the cascade shapes actually come with a zipper, which should prove very beneficial at rebooting time. Unfortunately, present designs tend to be a little on the floppy side, and glazes are limited to black, either dull or glossy. However, it should not be too difficult to get a multi-million dollar research and development grant from Ottawa if we can show that its purpose is sufficiently useless. Developing bonsai rubbers should be a shoe-in. |
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At any rate, it was concluded that the snowshoe had a certain functional simplicity that could not be matched by the sloppy, although more versatile, rubber, and it is for that reason that it was picked as our national container. Surely, any Red Maple planted in a snowshoe should be readily identifiable as a Canadian bonsai. There remained, however, the irksome fact that 'bonsai' is not really a Canadian word. It isn't even an English or a French word. If we want to shed our Japanese heritage, there is no use in doing it in half measures. Let's go whole hog! After all, this is the Toronto Bonsai Society, so going whole hog should come naturally. Once again, the members of the panel were really hard put to come to a decision. In the end it was decided to retain the basic word but to change the spelling in such a way that it would be a symbol of our multi-cultured society. And so it was decided that henceforth the growing of Red Maples in Snowshoes shall be known as 'bÙÒþÂÔ-eh'! |