The next generation
The other day I was watching my son and his two-year-old son already working together. My son is turning out to be a great teacher and his student is an…
The other day I was watching my son and his two-year-old son already working together.
My son is turning out to be a great teacher and his student is an eager learner. You can see that he so wants to be like his dad. He also happens to be very competent for one so young and relatively small. But I wonder how much of that has to do with the fact that he is being allowed to be competent. They say there are no bad students, just bad teachers.
In watching this, I have come to realize that this is how skills and knowledge are not only passed along, but advanced. Each generation adds something to the mix and takes it to another level while at the same time maintaining the traditions of the past. At least that's how it should be.
We often hear people saying that someday we may have to return to simpler ways of doing things. But I don't think it's going to be that easy. It might be something of a do over because in many ways, we have broken that chain.
Mastery takes generations. A prodigy may be born but he or she will need the foundations laid by the previous generations to stand upon.
D.D.

David DeCristoforo possesses an extensive resume as designer/maker of fine furniture, high-end cabinetry and architectural woodwork. His experience in professional woodworking spans a period of 35 years. For the past 20 years David DeCristoforo Design has been located in Woodland, California. During this time David's shop has ranged in scope from a "full on" cabinet production shop with as many as 15 employees to a small fine furniture and custom millwork shop, working with his son, David RBJ, a highly skilled maker in his own right.