Subject: Weekend Update: July 28-30
Date:    Tue 8/1/00 11:06am

Last weekend we took our annual trip to Parker Farms and Labor Camp,
which most of you should know is actually the home of Joy's sister 
Faith and her husband, fix-it-man, grounds-and-lawn maintenance,
and pool-keeper Juan.  (It isn't that Faith doesn't labor, but she
gets to crack the whip, and I don't hear John complaining!) I took off
from work early in the afternoon on Friday so that we could get a good
start on the weekend.  Bernie and Rhonda Slingerland, missionaries from
Venezuela, were at our home when I arrived.  They had brought Jessica
and Emily home from teen camp for us, and to stop in for a visit.  
(Rhonda is sister to Sharon who is wife to my brother Stephen.)

We spent some relaxed time showing the Slingerland's around and helping
them pick some blueberries and a few other ripened vegetables.  But as
soon as they left, we set the family into gear to load up the van and
head to eastern upstate New York.  Less than four hours later and over
one segment of the Appalachian mountain range, we arrived for a nice
Chinese food dinner and our much-anticipated weekend.

Friday also happened to be Andrew's 12th brithday and we celebrated
that evening with some presents but saved the cake for the next day.
That was because Saturday was Faith's 49th birthday, unless you want
me to lie about it like a lot of women seem to do, but I'm sure Faith
doesn't.  I was willing to give her an extra year, just like I gave to
my wife on her 39th, but since the idea was already done it was too
uninteresting to do it again.

The weekend weather was uncooperative in that the entire weekend
was at best a gray-slate overcast and pouring rain at its worst.  We
were able to enjoy most of the outdoor activities on Saturday - playing
badminton, and milling about the premesis, some of us even went in
for a swim - but the cloud cover changed the whole dynamic of the
family gathering.  I'll try to explain.  

On a bright, warm sunny summer afternoon, activity occurs everywhere
and conversations are dispersed to the four corners of the wind.  But
on an overcast day, activity is confined and condensed, and 
conversations get concentrated into smaller areas, especially if 
the group of people is driven indoors by inclement weather.  Combine
this with the excitement of being together, and it can get difficult
to be heard in the crowd.  

I just imagine what it is like for Faith and John to spend time in
the quiet of their oasis, just the two of them... then to graciously
receive the kinetic activity and conversation that the love of our
kids for them generates. I do not think I will have long to wait to
find out for myself, since Jessica and Miranda go off to college in
less than a month, and Joy  and I will be empty-nested in six brief
years.  Of course, sometimes kids come home to roost; not too sure
about how I feel about that, though.

Mark
-- 
+---_-----------+ Mark Metcalfe, metcalfe@cadence.com
| c a d e n c e | Cadence Design Systems, Inc.    Phone: (978) 446-6451
+---------------+ PCB Systems Division, Technical Communications Manager