Subject: Weekend Update: October 11-14, 2002
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 13:54:27 -0400

Many of us were eagerly anticipating our annual trek to
the woods of Maine. Andrew hitched a ride with Eric
Magnuson after school to head up to the cabin barely an
hour or so before we could depart from Pepperell
just to get a head start on the experience.  I got off
work a little early to shove off as soon as we could and
when Mandy arrived home, we also started out.  A third
car would set out from college a few hours later and
thirteen of us would rendezvous at Reed's cabin.

The radio reported numerous routes to the north that were
clogged with leaf peepers, so I decided to take secondary
highways, which are slower but nonetheless pleasant.  I
decided to stop somewhere along the way for dinner to break
the trip in half.  We avoided the burger and fry joints and
found a place to sit down to relax with me, Joy, Mandy, and
Emily. 

Andrew and Michael were in the basement playing ping pong
when we arrived.  We sat down to trade stories of our
trips and the college kids arrived just a short hour
behind us to start our weekend.

We awoke late on Saturday morning to gray, overcast skies,
but still dry on the ground.  Boston, to our south, was
getting wet.  The young men among us decided that Saturday
morning was the time for us to scrimmage so we packed into
a couple of cars and went to a nearby summer camp that was
closed for the season.  On a grassy field, the Magnusons
and Tim White played Utlimate Frisbee (a soccer-like game)
against the Metcalfes and David Young. We drew a five-five
tie before the old people gave up in exhaustion and headed
home for lunch.

The kids discovered that we forgot the marshmallows and
because tradition is strong with our group, we set out again
in the afternoon, combining a trip into town with an outing
to a local bookstore.  Not the Barnes and Noble caf=E9, mind
you, but a place that sells second-, third-, and fourth-hand
books for a buck or two.  David came away with nine; Joy
bought one to read to Kayla.

Evening games included Phase 10 for the kids, and Scrabble for
Eric and me.  Later, On Monday, we all played Round Robin
around the ping pong table.

For some reason, they looked to me to determine whether and
where we would go to church on Snuday.  We took advantage of
some study material that our church supplied and held church
in the cabin, after breakfast and in our grubby camp clothes.
The discussion was deep and meaningful so I felt as if we
"had church" after all.  We even had an "evening service" and
more discussion, still in our grubbies.

Another tradition we faithfully observed was the walking of the
loop; a 3.5 mile walk that is almost always at different altitudes
(very few flat portions; either up or down hill).  I asked the
others to put on my headstone "They said it would be good for me."
On Sunday's Loop we detoured to a small family graveyard that was
spread under a venerable and ancient maple tree.  None of the
headstones had my sentiments enscribed.  However, we pasued and
reflected on the names and ages of those who were buried there.
One man had a wife Mary Ann, and a second wife Mary B.  Apparently
he died before he could have a third wife named Mary C.

I walked the Loop on Monday morning, too, despite parts of my
legs and hips that begged me not to go.  I'm here to write about
it so maybe it was good for me after all.  The weather had cleared
the sky of cloud, drizzle, and occasional rain, and the sky on
Monday was very blue.  The foliage season in New England is a
week or so behind schedule and a lot of green is still on the
branches. But some trees held fast to tradition, contrasting
beautifully for an enjoyable ride home after lunch.  Eric had
heard that there was an 8-mile backup on the toll roads, so we
decided to go back the way we came, over the secondary highways.

Back in the comforts of home, we settled in Monday evening,
after unpacking the car and putting things away, to a movie
and a soak in the hot tub.  In the morning, there was frost
on the windshields for the first time this season and our
breaths could be seen upon the air, but our weekend was
about as warm and fine as we can get in Maine.  The only
thing we missed was canoeing on the lake, but no one seemed
to mind.

Mark