As a kid, I wished I paid more attention to my father.
My father was not educated beyond high school but he knew how to fix and build things. My version of fixing things is to tell my wife, Joy, to "call somebody."
My father would try to show me how to do mechanical repairs, electrical or woodworking projects. I never had the time of day for it, thus that intelligence never passed to me. However, while I would never hang around while my father built things for me, I do remember the excitement I felt when it was done. My father made me some really cool stuff. I had the best go-kart in the neighborhood!
Is an older generation making or repairing things for a younger generation universal? Global?
I captured the images above on one of my trips to China in a small village outside of Shanghai. My Chinese driver and friend, Billy, knows I like to go to places off the beaten path to capture photographs of the sites and people of "real" China, not the tourist sites of metropolitan Shanghai (although I have done plenty of that too!).
This little village is called Qibao.
As I walked down the streets of Qibao, I came across this grandpa and father fixing a flat tire on a bike for their two little boys. As grandpa pumped up the tire and father made the final adjustments, the two little boys looked on in anticipation of being able to ride their bike.
I stopped and took many photographs of this generational affair. My presence just heightened the delight and importance for the two boys; a "foreigner" is taking pictures of us! As I took my photographs, a large crowd of locals began to gather around me. This just created even more excitement.
My Chinese is "yi dian", or "very little", so the family or the crowd and I could not communicate verbally but the smiles and energy of my audience said it all. Everyone would erupt with laughter when I would take a few photographs and then show them my digital captures from the back of my camera.
In the end, the boys' bike was fixed by grandpa and father. Now the boys could ride! And ride they did…………to show off for the "foreigner" with the camera!
Do you remember your father, your mother, or one of your grandparents teaching you life skills when you were a child? I hope you didn't blow them off like I did and learned something!
Cheers,
Dale
My father was not educated beyond high school but he knew how to fix and build things. My version of fixing things is to tell my wife, Joy, to "call somebody."
My father would try to show me how to do mechanical repairs, electrical or woodworking projects. I never had the time of day for it, thus that intelligence never passed to me. However, while I would never hang around while my father built things for me, I do remember the excitement I felt when it was done. My father made me some really cool stuff. I had the best go-kart in the neighborhood!
Is an older generation making or repairing things for a younger generation universal? Global?
I captured the images above on one of my trips to China in a small village outside of Shanghai. My Chinese driver and friend, Billy, knows I like to go to places off the beaten path to capture photographs of the sites and people of "real" China, not the tourist sites of metropolitan Shanghai (although I have done plenty of that too!).
This little village is called Qibao.
As I walked down the streets of Qibao, I came across this grandpa and father fixing a flat tire on a bike for their two little boys. As grandpa pumped up the tire and father made the final adjustments, the two little boys looked on in anticipation of being able to ride their bike.
I stopped and took many photographs of this generational affair. My presence just heightened the delight and importance for the two boys; a "foreigner" is taking pictures of us! As I took my photographs, a large crowd of locals began to gather around me. This just created even more excitement.
My Chinese is "yi dian", or "very little", so the family or the crowd and I could not communicate verbally but the smiles and energy of my audience said it all. Everyone would erupt with laughter when I would take a few photographs and then show them my digital captures from the back of my camera.
In the end, the boys' bike was fixed by grandpa and father. Now the boys could ride! And ride they did…………to show off for the "foreigner" with the camera!
Do you remember your father, your mother, or one of your grandparents teaching you life skills when you were a child? I hope you didn't blow them off like I did and learned something!
Cheers,
Dale
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1 comment:
Hi Dale, Lana here. I'm signing in as anonymous because I don't want to got to the trouble of signing up with google.
Your story and photos touched me. My Dad is still living and is Mr. Handyman. I hope he feels like I appreciated him and learned from him, but I could never live up to his high standards.
Every year in elementary school he made my science project which was a very primitive electric motor. I never did learn to make that myself. I wonder if he remembers making those for me?
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