Like the Beloved, I grew up listening to Free to Be, and now we try to play it as often as possible for the kids. My all-girl seventh grade class put on a FTB, and ended up writing and including the girl-child version of “William’s Doll”: “Gillian’s ball.” I still remember the lyrics, and you’ve inspired me to write them down: http://mamanongrata.blogspot.com/2009/06/marlo-and-me.html

love the photos. Not indulgent at all — it is, after all, your blog.

Reading your post certainly brought me back to my childhood. “Free to be You and Me”…now there’s something I hadn’t thought about in a while. I had a grammar school teacher who would play that record all the time in class. We also had a school assembly where people came and acted out the different vignettes. Now that song is going to be stuck in my head all day (as if my co-workers didn’t already find me a bit eccentric). And then your dad putting on a tie to go into “The City”. Wow! Growing up in Sunnyvale I remember it always being a big deal to trek up the penninsula with my parents saying “we’re going to The City” in a way that inspired a sense of specialness and occasion. (Never mind that we went about once a month to visit my uncle and his ‘housemate’ so it certainly wasn’t an infrequent event.)

In any case, thanks for the glimpse into your family’s day. Since my own father died just over a year ago, this Father’s Day was not particlarly celebratory for me. Your post recalled fond memories of happier times — as my dad would say, “Mercy Buttercups!” (translation: Merci Beaucoup)

And Vikki, I tell you, it’s worth slowing down for. Always is. Even the pigeon guano is worth it.