One of the best days of my life.

I was not happy when I woke up this morning.

My parents' new obsession has been bonsai gardening. I was dragged halfway unwillingly (I'm open to new things for the most part) to a bonsai society meeting at the Botanical Gardens on Friday and, quite frankly, I was bored out of my mind. Gardening is one of those things I've always felt like you can read a million books about or see a million pictures of, but unless you've been on your hands and knees elbow deep in delicious dirt you don't know the first thing about it. So sitting around for 4 hours (I'm not kidding) watching a power point presentation about miniature trees was somewhat akin to hell on earth for me. But I always try to take something from every experience so I payed attention as much as possible. While consuming all the strawberry filled cupcakes.

While I was pigging out on aforementioned cupcakes I was approached by a lady named Jane. She asked me if I was interested in bonsai and after figuring out that I was she offered to give me some of her plants because she and her husband both didn't have long left on this earth and were planning on moving to the mountains, leaving most of their possessions behind. We planned to meet at a man named Ronnie's house on Sunday. Well, loosely. I gave her my number and address and expected honestly to never hear or see from her again, given my general lack of faith in all mankind.

Until she called me.

So this morning my dad roused me from my bed (no easy task) and off we went, sprouts and small trees in containers all around me in the car while I stewed in tired irritation.

Upon arriving to Ronnie's house my mood lightened immediately. He honestly has the best house I have ever been in or around in my entire life. Little trees in various states of bonsai mutation were everywhere, there was a forest of bamboo, a koi pond, and creepy beautiful little oriental statues and parephanelia everywhere. Inside his house was a mass of tools, baskets, guns, oriental art, taxidermied animals. My heart sang a creepy little song and rubbed its hands together.

I met so many nice people. They took me under their wings and immediately handed me a pair of scissors and instructed me to start chopping. Obviously they didn't know me very well and I was more than happy to oblige. Luckily, I didn't fuck anything up and honestly they were all so patient they wouldn't have minded.

I love the elderly.

At one point one very old man who didn't say very much the whole time (Jane's husband) waved me over. I wandered over expecting him to give me some insight on bonsai this or bonsai that but instead he hobbled farther into the backyard and pointed into the field behind the house. There was a deer and her fawn. He thought I would enjoy the sight, and I did. 

It's the simple things. I always come back to them. The feel of dirt in my hands, tenderly bending a branch back with wire, sitting in the sun, seeing a wild animal from afar, an encouraging word from someone who knows stores of endless information that you are lucky enough to have access to.

What a fucking amazing day.