The shortest day of the year seems designed to invite thoughtful reflection. Maybe it’s the long evening hours of darkness, or the cold outside that draws everyone closer to the blazing woodstove. Maybe it’s the dwindling pages remaining on the year's calendar, falling away like autumn leaves (there’s a mixed seasonal metaphor for you). Maybe it’s the cookies in the oven. Yeah, definitely, the cookies have something to do with it.
Here at M&T, we have a lot to reflect on and be thankful for. Every passing year brings new and interesting work for us, new ideas, new acquaintances and friendships, and new (often old) tools to mess around with. This year has been especially unique, with the launch of the Apprenticeship Program, our M&T Craft Research Grant, and (more recently) the Daily Dispatch digital content feed to accompany the magazine and books we publish. Designing these programs, working out the details, and getting them up and running while battling technical gremlins has been a real adventure.
Tomorrow, the M&T team will have our big year-end team meeting. The four of us will be poring over the numbers for 2021, looking at the things that worked and the things that didn’t, and we'll do some serious brainstorming for the year ahead. Believe me when I say that our list of ideas and plans is a long and growing collection of occasionally absurd, always exciting explorations into handcraft, tools, and furniture making. And after we look back on the ups and downs of this past year, it’ll be time to start putting things on the calendar for 2022.
And yes – there will be cookies at the meeting.
-Mike