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October 05, 2004
Seeing light and a dead christmas tree.

Another morning inside of a giant jewel-box. It looks as if the city had been rubbed in with a special oil over night and now a very custom golden light is shining on it, just to let the best colors come through, the warmest, the richest, the deepest.

I have the feeling that I killed the christmas tree. Not that it was living a life of great joy since purchased last december 24th in the afternoon. It was a tiny tree, maybe a foot and a half tall, with a ridiculous plastic red bow attached to it with a wire. It took some effort to remove some of that other plastic decoration as well.
The needles were angry and sharp.
The tree was the very last one, I think.

Now it has those dead brown needles in the center, some branches that are still semi-witty and then those droopy, sad, tired, limp tips of bright colored new growth.

I must have given it too much water. Now the little friend has drowned.
I remembered today to put the pot on an angle, and indeed, there was still water on the bottom.
I really hope the roots did not start to rot. If they did, this is going to be a very tough case.
Hmm…

Maybe if I simulated a forest fire? Would this help dry the soil and mobilize the tree’s spirit?
Forest fires in manhattan apartments are definitely one of the worst possible ideas. Maybe there is a softer way… nucular (nuclear) fallout? Could I stuff the tree into the microwave?…

I will see how much more I can dry the soil. Maybe some cutting will be needed as well. Oh boy… and I am such an absolute bonsai beginner…

Comments

After taking a long hiatus from reading journals, I am very happy to have re-discovered yours, Witold. I didn't realize how much I'd missed it. :)

Posted by: Anna on October 5, 2004 09:40 AM

(thank you for coming back.)
i think we all miss absolutely-vile.com

Posted by: Witold Riedel on October 5, 2004 01:47 PM

i wonder if simply re-potting it into drier soil would help?

this is purely a guess, though. i actually have no idea what to do in situations like these.

Posted by: christa on October 5, 2004 02:35 PM

If Ansel Adams can put his test prints in the microwave then I'm sure a tree would be fine :-) You just need to find a large enough microwave...

Posted by: ajd on October 6, 2004 10:41 AM
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