I Quit

[ShadyStump]

I think this hobby has a tendency to slow down your life and turn you into a pensioneer

AMEN!

I think THAT'S exactly what I've been needing.

 

[ShadyStump]

I decided in 2019 it was finally time for me to do bonsai.
But I didn't ACTUALLY start doing bonsai until the past year or so when I finally went from halfwittedly picking on trees occasionally to actually thinking about and planning and caring for them.

But I've still been here enjoying what folks in the bonsai world have to offer.
And so far the only great anger and frustration I've experienced with bonsai has been very recently with the discovery that my new dog likes to eat trees.
He's doing much better now, BTW.

Quitting a thing is not the same as leaving it behind, just like beginning a thing is not the same as doing it, and if you quit the friends you made along the way you're an asshole.

I hope to see OP around here again, trees or no.

 

[BrightsideB]

It sounds like it was a good decision for you.

 

[Paradox]

This hobby isn't for everyone. It takes a lot of time and commitment that some aren't willing to put in or come to the realization they dont want to put in.
Honestly, I have also thought maybe I should get rid of most/all my trees when I start thinking about all the things I have to do to them and dont have the time to get it all done.

Then I think someday Ill be able to retire and I will have the time and need things to do anyway.
I have been slowly upgrading my trees and getting rid of the lesser ones that I'm not as interested in.
Some I keep up with fairly well and continue their development.
The rest I am holding on to in the hopes that someday I can really do something with them.

 

[BobbyLane]

If you have the space, you can always plant your trees out and just forget about them for a few years, might find you would like to revisit the hobby later in life when more settled.

 

[Cajunrider]

My fear is... will I sell or give away to good home. In the back of my mind, I always feel like I will never be able to recoup all the costs I have put in them. There really isn't an easy way....

In the past four weeks, I have 4 deaths of friends and family. I am attending a funeral today in Kentucky. In a larger sense, none of this matter. Enjoy the journey. Fry some more egg rolls and have a beer for me.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

When doctor visits become a larger part of your life than hobbies, it is time to GTFO.
This is the first year that arthritis has become a bonsai concern.

Woke up just this morning thinking of the disposition of trees.

Oh hell.... now I'm depressed.

 

[ShadyStump]

Those who cannot do, teach?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

When doctor visits become a larger part of your life than hobbies, it is time to GTFO.
This is the first year that arthritis has become a bonsai concern.

Woke up just this morning thinking of the disposition of trees.

Oh hell.... now I'm depressed.

We need your cool here man, don't quit!

 

[Kadebe]

Amen @Dav4 and @rockm .

Bonsai is a continuity ultramarathon. It selects for a particular kind of person who can satisfy one specific requirement: For each day into the future with no gaps, satisfy your obligation to the trees.

These days when I meet an elder or long-time grower I look at that person with new eyes because I've seen what it takes not to just meet the requirements to simply keep trees alive, but also to achieve impressive aesthetic results. It tells me something about their character that usually wouldn't be clear from normal conversation or appearances.

Outside of bonsai I am an endurance runner and I over time see some odd parallels between bonsai people and ultrarunners ... Well, except that bonsai people are even more hardcore than ultrarunners. A runner can actually take a week-long break in July if they want to!

My opinion... there's a huge difference between ultramarathon and bonsai.... Ultramarathon has a finish, bonsai not.... if the tree has finished his maturation phase, after that it's coming in another phase and it all starts over again to guide it to the next level.

 

[namnhi]

In the past four weeks, I have 4 deaths of friends and family. I am attending a funeral today in Kentucky. In a larger sense, none of this matter. Enjoy the journey. Fry some more egg rolls and have a beer for me.

Uncle, Sorry to hear all the losses you have endured recently. Hope you find a way to deal with it and move forward.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

We need your cool here man, don't quit!

Room temperatture cool?

 

[ABCarve]

For sure, I have thought about this. Sometimes I just start feeling like how a dairy farmer must feel. “Gotta milk these cows twice a day, no matter what!” and then there is the feeding and watering! I have started culling the crop…. down to under 30 and moving toward under 20 especially the heavy ones. The only thing that keeps me in is, I’ve been a “maker” my whole life and bonsai fills that need. I’ve recently started watching boat building videos on YouTube as @Leo in N E Illinois mentioned with his killies. You just never know what new thing might turn your key!

 

[Sansokuu]

Orchids are very easy and you get a lot of instant gratification. If you live in the tropics or semi-tropics that is. If you're up north you still have to take them in during winter etc...and that's a pain.

I love tropical orchids but our house has zero south facing windows. I have some moth orchids in our kitchen window sill, and only really have room for just a few. I would love to have all sorts of other tropical orchids. Since our area gets an actual winter, I am giving cold hardy orchids a whirl. They go dormant in the fall/winter!

 

[Sansokuu]

Years ago, when in my teens I had 40 or more tanks of killifish. Gave them up when I left home for university. Today I scratch my nostalgia itch for killies by watching YouTube videos on aquarium hobby. This has kept me from putting water in any of the handful of empty tanks stored in the basement.

Wow, 40 tanks! I used to have a lot of birds before our toddler. I can’t keep up with her mess, so no birds for now.. but some day again I hope. I would really love to have a big fish tank one day. Right now I just reset our 20 gallon tank with a female betta, some snails and shrimp. You could have one tank?

 

[Carol 83]

Sometimes I just start feeling like how a dairy farmer must feel. “Gotta milk these cows twice a day, no matter what!”

My husband was the youngest of 9 kids raised on a dairy farm. He was the last one at home and was never as happy as when his dad sold the herd. Except when he married me, of course!

 

[19Mateo83]

In the past four weeks, I have 4 deaths of friends and family. I am attending a funeral today in Kentucky. In a larger sense, none of this matter. Enjoy the journey. Fry some more egg rolls and have a beer for me.

Sorry to hear about your losses. I couldn't have said it better, none of this matters in the grand scheme of things. It’s all about the journey… If you ever pass through my way give me a holler and I’ll fire up the grease and ice down the beer.

 

[Cajunrider]

For sure, I have thought about this. Sometimes I just start feeling like how a dairy farmer must feel. “Gotta milk these cows twice a day, no matter what!” and then there is the feeding and watering! I have started culling the crop…. down to under 30 and moving toward under 20 especially the heavy ones. The only thing that keeps me in is, I’ve been a “maker” my whole life and bonsai fills that need. I’ve recently started watching boat building videos on YouTube as @Leo in N E Illinois mentioned with his killies. You just never know what new thing might turn your key!

I built one 50 ft shrimp trawler in my life. That satisfied my boat building itch for the most part. I once thought of building a 45 ft cabin cruiser but had good sense knocked in to me by my lovely.

 

[Cajunrider]

I built one 50 ft shrimp trawler in my life. That satisfied my boat building itch for the most part. I once thought of building a 45 ft cabin cruiser but had good sense knocked in to me by my lovely.

My brothers and I were discussing going up the Mississippi river, catching fish and have a fish fry at every port of call along the way. We thought that would be a memorable trip.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Room temperatture cool?

A little warmer maybe, might help with the arthtritis!