Dale Cochoy has mentioned to me several times in the bonsaiTALK chatroom that he believes Louisville to be one of the best places to grow bonsai. He was referencing the mild climate and 4 full seasons. There are other advantages to living in Louisville, one being the proximity to several bonsai clubs.
Aside from the Greater Louisville Bonsai Society that meets twice a month there are several bonsai clubs within a 2-3 hour drive. We have the Indianapolis Bonsai Club, host of this years Mid-America Bonsai Alliance (MABA) convention 2 hours due north. Nashville Bonsai Society is around 3 hours south of the Louisville Metro area. And finally there is the Bonsai Society of Greater Cincinnati 2 hours to the northeast (1.5 with my iPod blaring).
Yesterday, directly after work I headed for Cincinnati to see a lecture and demonstration by Doug Hawley and Tom McCormack. The topic for the evening was Tanuki or Phoenix Graft. In the past I had learned quite a bit about this subject having taken a workshop from Brussel Martin and presented a demonstration and workshop to the Louisville club. However, Doug shared some information that I was not aware of. Some of said information included mention of a raccoon dog with a giant scrotum. Rather disturbing.
I enjoy Doug. He and Tom work well together and have done so on several projects, including mutliple articles for the ABS Journal. This evening was no exception. The two of them put together a rather nice composition of rocky mountain juniper and dawn redwood. Afterwards Doug commented that he was looking forward to seeing the finished product once the redwood fills in as he is expecting. We're all looking forward to seeing this, Doug.
The meeting was well worth the 4 hour round trip. It's strange to fly through downtown Louisville at midnight on my way home only to be stuck in stop and go rush hour traffic the following morning. I'm very tired this morning as I found it very hard to sleep last night. After a good bonsai program my mind continues to process the information that was presented. I blame Doug for my lack of sleep.