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"And the LORD God made ... trees that were pleasing to the eye ..." Gen. 2:9, New International Version.

"Bonsai isn't just something I do; it's part of what I am." Remark to my wife and daughter.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

A Splendid White Pine, a Survivor of Hiroshima

My thanks to the Voice of America for producing this video; to Jack Sustic and all his staff at the National Collection; to "Capital Bonsai" for putting it into the blogosphere;  and to Ian Young ("Bonsai Eejit") for bringing it to my attention on his blog.

I saw this magnificent bonsai for myself on a visit to the National Arboretum in the early 1980's. I'm not the type to literally stop in my tracks when I see something awe-inspiring. Nevertheless, at my first view of this tree my feet stuttered in mid-stride!

The Yamaki family of Hiroshima cared for this tree for six generations; a fortuitously-placed wall was between it and the atomic-bomb blast on the morning of August 6, 1945. The Yamakis donated this bonsai to the United States in 1976, when it had been in training for 350 years. It is now closing in on the four-century mark.

This video takes less than five minutes on YouTube; please click here.


:-)  :-)  :-)

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