A Year In Mill Valley

Tomorrow my lovely wife Rachel turns 50…happy birthday Rachel!

We met the first week of June, 1998, right after her 40th birthday, and three weeks later I asked her to marry me. I knew very early on that she was the right one for me. And ten years later I still feel the same way.

Thanks for hanging out with me all these years. Thanks for making my life so much richer.

Love,
— Frank

(If you have problems with the movie — it doesn’t play, or you can’t hear the soundtrack — click here to reload the page and try again.)

Sebastian goes to a lovely pre-school called Morningsong here in Mill Valley. It is a Waldorf-inspired school, run by a magical lady named Linda and her lovely assistant Teya.

One of the primary themes running through every Waldorf school is the idea that the children should be (need to be, want to be) in tune with the rhythms of the earth and seasons…and today was their May festival, complete with headdresses, flower petals, music, redwood trees, and a maypole.

I’d missed last year’s May festival, and Rachel made sure that I understood how important it was to come to this year’s. I left work at 11 and made it to the grove right at 11:30. When I got there the children were seated on two opposing benches, and Rachel and Linda and Teya were putting wreaths on their heads. Everyone had brought potluck for lunch, and a wonderful array of dishes were lined up on one of the tables behind the children.

It was hot, well into the high 80’s, but luckily Linda had been able to move the location from Boyle Park (which has very little shade) to a beautiful redwood grove at the end of Montford Ave.

While we waited for the last children to arrive, I took pictures as Miss Linda (as Sebastian calls her) led them in a song. And as I watched their open faces, their rounded mouths, and listened to their high lilting voices, I imagined for a moment that I was seeing a set of tiny angels, sun pouring down on their heads, kicking their legs in the dirt beneath the bench.

Instead of describing what happened next, I’ll let the music and photos carry you there.

Notes:

1) To any of the other Morningsong parents watching the movie…I’m sorry I didn’t get photos of all the children, I was really focusing on Sebastian. And some day maybe I’ll figure out how to do a better sound track. In spite of these shortcomings I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I enjoyed making it.

2) Like to see a larger version of this movie? Click here.

3) Having trouble seeing the movie embedded above? Or would you rather see large versions of the photos? Photos Gallery and Slideshow.