Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 12:21:51 -0400

For me and mine, the past weekend was the last of the summer
and the only time that the six of us got away for a few hours
together as a family,

I left work Friday afternoon to get home by almost 3pm.  I still
had a couple of hours before we'd all be ready to head for our
weekend with Joy's sister and brother-in-law.  I gave the roof
of Ol' Lazarus a quick sanding with a nylon pad, then washed it,
dried it, taped up the windows very quickly and spray-painted the
top with primer paint.  I had already sanded it last weekend but
more rust appeared.  (I probably should have used a finer grit on
my belt sander for the first grinding of the roof.)  For any of
you car buffs on my list, I am sure that I did everything the way
it isn't supposed to happen, but I didn't care because we're talking
about Ol' Lazarus here. I want the roof to last only as long as the
engine, or the suspension, or whatever.  For all the wrong things
done to that roof, it looks better than it did at next-to-nothing
for the cost.

Our trek across southern New Hampshire and Vermont, into New York took
4.5 hours to get there and 3.5 hours to get back.  Must be the wind
currents, or the time we took for dinner in Keene, NH on the way out. 
I don't know how else to account for an hour's difference. In pleasant
weather, it is a pleasant drive over the Adirondack mountains.  We nearly
met a couple of deer in New York, but the family van brakes were working
as they should to prevent a venison disaster.  On the way home, another
woodland creature ventured across our path, but brakes do not get applied
for chipmunks.  Once we safely arrived at the Parker estate, we swapped
our hosting role for the role of guests, to be as active or (as in my case)
as inactive as we wanted.

As usual, Faith and John were the most gracious of hosts.  I was never
wanting for a cold coke, and the rest of us were equally pampered. 
John taught Andrew how to drive plastic golf balls off a practice mat
he had in his driveway.  Paddleball was the favorite sport for the 
active. It was gratifying to me to watch all four of my children playing
doubles on the paddleball court.  The fact that they could and that
they would were both signs of the times of family growth and maturity.
(I did participate in an exhausting and aerobic game of keep-away in
the pool and went for a walk with Joy on Sunday morning, so I wasn't
a total lump.) 

Spending a weekend at "Parker Farms and Labor Camp" has become somewhat
of a summer rite of passage over the last decade and more.  Not all
family traditions remain the same, however, as family growth and maturity
brings changes, kids become adults and establish new families, and 
centralized celebrations become more difficult to coordinate and achieve.
One such tradition that will fall by the wayside this Fall is the Crawford
Clan gathering at Thanksgiving.  We have discussed this eventuality for 
several years now; ever since my mother-in-law passed away.  Asked how
we felt about it, I said that it was disappointing because we enjoy
the family, but that we recognize the dynamics involved and will deal
with change.  Sometimes old family traditions need to give way before we
can feel free to establish new family traditions, and we hope that to be
the case here.

This week is filled with preparation.  Miranda and Jessica go back to 
College, returning the household to a mere four of us for the rest of
the year.  This is Miranda's final semester, doing her student teaching.
I hadn't thought about it until now but it means we should be parents of a 
college graduate before too long.

Emily has already started practicing with the High School Marching Band -
I took her there this morning - so in effect she's into it already.  Andrew
seems eager to get his school year underway, too, although I bet a good dose
of homework might change his attitude.  I hope they all have good school
years.
Joy and I turn our attentions to the things we need to do to winterize the
Manor (wood, windows, harvest, and so on). Forward and onward.

Mark

P.S. Today is my Mother and Father's 47th Wedding Anniversary.  You can
reach them at eflactem@aol.com.
-- 
+---_-----------+ 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