Dear Miles,

We’re entering our second month of sheltering-in-place at Mubby and Skitter’s, and you’ve gotten established in a pretty solid routine.  Yes, there’s a lot of screen time, but you’ve also done some other interesting things.  You’ve been reading a lot of the books from my childhood that Mubby set aside—John Bellairs is a winner; Beavis & Butthead not so much.  I can’t figure out why you don’t find those as hilarious as Uncle Tyler and I did as pre-teens, but they just don’t grab you.  Maybe it’s not the same without having seen the TV show.  You’ve also been joining in on some of the poker games, though not quite as enthusiastically as Tobin.  I’m glad you know how to play, though.  I’m not a card player myself, partly because I don’t enjoy it and partly because I don’t feel confident at it.  It may serve you well to have some poker experience.

You’ve also done some recording for the Family Folk Machine virtual choir project.  In lieu of singing together in preparation for a formal concert, Family Folk Machine is doing an all-digital season, and that requires us to record ourselves singing the parts to our songs and sending the files in to our directors.  They then mix them together to create a choir-like sound.  I’ve heard a rough cut of one of the songs, and it sounds really beautiful.  It’s not quite the same as being together to sing, and I know you miss the creative and social elements, but it’s still a cool thing to be a part of.  You’re also doing a trombone solo in one of the songs, so we recorded the audio for that a couple of weeks ago, and last night we took advantage of an unusually cool evening to capture some video.

Photo by Gary Clarke

Once the audio tracks are all mixed, various choir members including myself will create videos to go with them, and I plan to include your trombone video.  Your solo is in the Pete Seeger song “Rainbow Race,” which is ostensibly about ecological topics but also well suits the current turmoil the United States is experiencing regarding Black Lives Matter demonstrations in response to police brutality.  We’ve been talking a lot about current events, and I think you have a reasonable understanding of what’s going on.  Another song on which you’re singing is John Prine’s “Paradise,” which also has the sad connection to current times due to John Prine’s death from COVID-19.  It’s about the pain of having the songwriter’s favorite places from childhood destroyed by the coal industry.  That’s a poignant song for me, too, because we sang it in our very first (or at least one of the very early) Family Folk Machine concerts.  It seems like both a long time ago and very recent.

I have no idea what your music education (or any of your education) is going to look like in the fall, because you’ve signed up for both band and choir, and neither of those seems prudent in the COVID-19 climate.  I can’t even say for sure that you’ll be attending school in person.  You really want to, and I don’t blame you.  Junior High is a time of important social development, and while I’d be happy to wrap you in bubble wrap and keep you at home forever, it’s probably not a good idea in reality.  The school board hasn’t announced a specific plan yet, but it may involve distance learning or a hybrid model of in-person and distance learning. They also stated that there would be some degree of parental choice in the matter, so we will probably have some decision-making to do as a family.

You haven’t historically taken great interest in cooking, though I’ve tried to engage you on that topic in an effort to expand your palate.  You haven’t really nibbled, figuratively or literally.  Sometimes I wonder how you manage to keep your systems running on the few calories I see you consume.  You don’t like very many foods, and you don’t eat very much of the foods you do like.  However, one item you can usually find room for is chocolate.  You often hang around while I read bedtime stories to Callum, and a favorite of his (and yours) is The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food.  In it, the Bear family gives up such treats as Sugar Balls and Choco Chums in an effort to get healthier.  Missing the point entirely, and maybe a little bit because I just wanted to do an activity with you, you got excited about making homemade Choco Chums.  Most people would call them truffles, as they have a ganache center and a dark chocolate coating, but around here, they’re Choco Chums.  We’ve made two batches, and your technique has improved a lot.  The second batch looked so pretty we had to put them in a fancy box.

You’ve continued to write the Clarke-Crall Times every week, and I really look forward to reading your commentary on the events, minimal though they may be.  I took a peek at this weeks, even though you haven’t technically displayed it yet, and you mentioned a recent family movie night.  The whole gang, even Mubby and Skitter, joined us to watch Napoleon Dynamite.  In fact, it’s one of Skitter’s favorite movies, and I think he enjoyed watch you and your brothers crack up as much as he enjoyed watching Napoleon throw ham at an alpaca.

By this time next month, we’ll probably have a good idea of when we’ll be moving back to our house.  The renovation is scheduled to be finished mid-August, though of course that may shift a little.  It’s going to be a bit of a shock for all of us, since we’ve gotten pretty comfortable here.  I will miss not cooking dinner every night and having Skitter-brewed coffee waiting for me every morning.  I’m sure you’ll miss the many, many batches of Chex Mix Mubby has made, as well as the generous pours of lemonade she distributes.  Still, I’m really excited for our project to be done so we can start enjoying our new space.  Who knows how long we’ll be in coronavirus crisis, so at least it will be nice to have a freshly updated home.

Your current favorites:  the Nintendo Switch, Mubby Ice, chatting in Bro Speak with your friends online, pasta, and wearing your new favorite shirt.  The photos in this post will provide evidence as to which one it is.  Being here with a limited wardrobe, it’s easy to assume that you never change your clothes.  You don’t change them as often as I dream you might, but you do sometimes, I swear.

I admire how well you’re coping with this very unusual summer, Miles.  I’m sorry you can’t go to your favorite FilmScene camp (probably–it hasn’t officially been canceled, but things are looking bleak, and it would also mean returning home before the project is finished), go swimming at the City Park Pool, do the library Summer Reading Program, hang out with your friends in person, and go out for frozen yogurt.  But I’m glad you’re getting extra time with me and with Mubby and Skitter, because you’re twelve-and-a-half now, and time sure isn’t going any slower.  I’m glad we can live in safety and comfort and I can soak up a little extra Miles time before you grow up completely.

I love you.

Joe Momma (aka Mom)