It's the final countdown....

We're leaving together, but still it's farewell. And maybe we'll come back, to earth who can tell?

Lunchtime on the final day and everyone, and I mean everyone, is ready to leave. A dearth of clients, a cold, cloudy day and a sense of despondency hangs in the air like a stale fart trapped in a lift. A few people have done well, a few have done ok, some less so. There was a tremendous lack of international visitors, maybe only 30 to 40 in total. Gone are the days of bus loads of visitors, even though the exchange rate is improving in the favour of visitors. Even though I have complained and moaned, Kokufu is an absolute must see once in the life of any serious bonsai enthusiast. There is nowhere better...yet.

Im struggling to find anything left to buy and then have bought from under the table. Maybe some tools or something. There has been very few high quality stones this year. Nothing that really sunk my ship. There was this stone however which reminded me of a certain honey loving character.

I normally hate the "I can see a dog licking an ice cream in a shed" type approach to suiseki, because lets face it, they are just rocks, but therewithin lies the depth and interest. Comparing a rock to what we see everyday with our eyes is as shallow an interpretation of suiseki as there can be. The depth comes from a holistic approach, a sense of history and a slightly more cerebral and dare I say it, spiritual approach to viewing stones. Simple structure and shape is the entrance, forgetting the shape and seeing beyond is possible with the right approach. Next year there will be a massive suiseki exhibition at the same time and place as the Kokufu, so it will be interesting to see the response. A lot of effort is being put into it, so lets hope it bears fruit.

Speaking of bears...

"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.

"So it is."

"And freezing."

"Is it?"

"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."

 

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