Apollo turns 12

"It's true! The world is flat!" Apollo exclaims smugly, in response to me randomly stating that "The world is flat you know." His face lights up in anticipation like a kid that just found a twenty dollar bill in the street.

Slapping his hands to his forehead and dragging them with exaggerated effort down his face in despair, Orion yells out, "NOOOOOOO!! Why did you have to say that Dada?"
simultaneously, Melanie will look over at me in disgust and ask, "Really? why...why?" and shake her head.

 The chaos that I just unleashed on my family with that one simple phrase, could happen on any given day, on any random road trip, and will undoubtedly lead to a 20 to 30 minute debate between Apollo and Orion on whether or not the earth is indeed flat.

To be clear, Apollo does NOT believe the world is flat at all. He does, however, believe in sarcasm, absurdity, mayhem and pestering his little brother. Orion on the other hand, is more like his mom, and even though he knows that Apollo is yanking his chain, he cannot help but argue every point and counterpoint that Apollo makes on the subject. And let me just say, Apollo can make a very compelling case for the earth being flat.

 Why do I do this you ask? In part, for my own sadistic entertainment. I enjoy listening to the banter. I enjoy the argument that Apollo lays out. I enjoy Orion thinking about and articulating his rebuttals. Yes, Orion is often distressed and almost yelling while Apollo is grinning and sagely making his case...until Melanie intervenes to make them stop. In the end, Melanie is usually irritated with all of us, Orion is angry, and Apollo is quite pleased with himself. As for me, beyond the entertainment value, 30 minutes just passed away where no one asked me "How much longer?" or complained that, "I'm hungry," or, "I have to go to the bathroom."

This is Apollo. He is clever, bright, sarcastic and quick witted. He is easy going for the most part and adapts to new situations readily.
Apollo is spending his twelfth birthday in a pandemic "say-at-home", shelter-in-place", "quarantine", or any number of phrases to describe the state wide and county lockdown. He going on week six of no school, social distancing, and being stuck with only his family 24/7. For the most part, we are all getting along, rather well I might add, all things considered. Melanie complains that Apollo talks too much and does not know when to quit being sarcastic or pestering his brother, but really, these are just gold plated problems as they say.

I cant believe this kid is on the edge of manhood. It has certainly been quite a ride. Normal for him is fire evacuations and living in the RV with our zoo, almost annually, smoke or fire related school closures, and a third of his sixth grade school year being canceled for a pandemic... and being isolated at home...with his family...in what promises to be the never ending summer.

 Kids tend to go with the flow and adapt. I wonder how Apollo will view these events as an adult. As with most things that come his way, he seems rather unaffected. While as adults, we are losing our minds. I think about how my parents grew up and the challenges that they were faced with.My grandparents as well. Then I realize that it is our generation that had it easy. Our generation was the anomaly. A few decades of normalcy, as we have come to know it. It's just life and it is different for everyone and every generation. I don't believe that our boys will look back on this year, 2020, as the crisis that we, as adults, will. Its just another chapter in all of our books.Some will see it as a profound plot twist while others will see it as more of a side note. My bet is on the later for our boys.






Apollo continues to awe us with his love for and abilities with animals. They are drawn to him, and he to them. He finds no end to the fascination and entertainment they provide him. They seek his attention because they feel a connection. There is always at least one dog and/or a cat in his bed at night. Melanie calls the dogs "traitors" when they abandon her to sleep with Apollo. The birds appreciate his affinity for them and call to him when they see or hear him. We never need to ask him to interact with any of them. He almost always has a bird or two on him when at home.





Apollo has been reading nonstop. Reading is one thing that we never have to ask him to do. To the contrary, at times we have to tell him to stop reading and go to sleep. I wish I had his passion for reading. I do love a good story and audio books for me, replace my lack of ability to sit and read for more than a few minutes. I introduced Apollo to a series that I really enjoyed; Riyria Revelations and Riyria Chronicles. While probably above the  reading Lexile of most kids his age, I knew he would find the books and characters interesting and hoped that he would be sucked in to them. I was not surprised when he became obsessed. He has powered through almost all of the books in the past few months. They are lengthy and wordy but it has not deterred him in the least.




Apollo has been dabbling in electronics and robotics this past year, including flying drones. He is good with his hands and creating with them. He still loves origami and will randomly fold up an animal or complex paper airplane. 

He has a good eye for photography and won some 1st place awards and Best-Of-Show for his age group at the county fair last summer.

Apollo has also done some great video editing and time-lapse films that were rather good.

With all of his creativity, one of his best talents can also be viewed as a curse of sorts; Apollo has a knack for mimicry. He excels at picking up on peoples mannerisms, speech patterns and voice inflections. While we try to guide him and encourage him to stop short of bullying, he is quite adept at these skills and does them on a subconscious level.










Apollo is a very funny person. One of my favorite things about him is that he can make us laugh, all of us, and without any thought or effort. When he wants to, he can get Orion laughing harder and longer than anyone can.

 I laugh at Apollo all the time because I can relate to his twisted sense of humor. He got it from me after all. While Melanie is not as entertained by him as I am, my favorite thing is that he makes Melanie laugh, all the time.  Its not that Melanie doesn't have a sense of humor, because she does, she just doesn't find most men (or maybe just this man), or her children as funny as she does her friends, so the fact that he gets her laughing at all, is a testament to how genuinely funny he is...even if he is trying to convince her that the world is flat.


~Apollo
Stay true to who you are. Make people laugh. Love unconditionally. Work hard. Always be proud of what you stand for.  ~I love you, and I am honored to be your father~ Happy 12th birthday!! ~ Dad

And then it happened.

It felt like a Saturday morning, but it was a weekday. Probably closer to noon. I passed through the first big intersection. The traffic was all wrong. Nothing I could put my finger on. Just the wrong cars, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. The air seemed cleaner some how, like it does after a spring rain, It had been raining, but that wasn't it. Maybe it was the quietness, the stillness, or just that eerie feeling when you know something was about to happen but the anticipation is much worse than the end effect  could be. Or could it?


And then it happened: Pandemic. The world shut down.

March started like any other March. I tend to ignore the media most of the time. I despise the over-glorification of the mundane,  the political rhetoric, the hatred. I haven't seen real journalism in years. It doesn't exist anymore. With that said, it was impossible not to hear about a new virus erupting in China. The city of Wuhan being shut down. A city of 11 million people completely shut down and cut off from the world... to contain a virus. While shocking to hear this, after passing through Wuhan Tianhe International Airport just one year earlier...twice, I completely understand how seriously they take these outbreaks. Novela Corona Virus was already on my radar by this time, but the closure of Wuhan was the first time that I took note of it.

  I was at a corporate training event on March 11th when the news announced the cancellation of the remainder of the NBA season. My flight down to Southern California the day before was only about 55% full due to concerns over the new virus. Things were already beginning to unravel globally. We had seen some business events cancel a week earlier locally. More followed suite. Then the NBA canceled. It escalated from there...quickly. Travel bans began to be implemented and more sports organizations followed the NBA by canceling the remainder of their seasons respectively.

The boys made it through the week to Friday the 13th, without their school shutting down, although we had anticipated it. It was the start of spring break. The next day, the school district announced that class was suspended through April 3rd.

  March 16th, the city of San Francisco issued a stay-at-home order essentially shutting the city down. That was followed by a six county (Bay Area) Shelter-in-place order. Sonoma County followed suite the next day, inadvertently extending the school shut down until April 7th. A week later, the school district extended the order through May 1st. The week after that, the rest of the school year was canceled and learning would move to an online format.

Melanie was laid off of both her jobs and became a home-school teacher overnight. Apollo and Orion had a hard time understanding why their friends could no longer come over for a play date. For the most part, Melanie and the boy's  have not been out of our neighborhood in nearly four weeks now. We are all still adjusting.

You find out quickly in these crisis, all the things in life that we take for granted. The everyday things, first world conveniences really, even the ability to go where you want, when you want, with whom you want. But its the social isolation that gets to most of us. The communal things that we all do together if even to be surrounded by strangers or acquaintances: the gym, church, movies, events. Its the interaction with others, that primal need to interact, I think we miss the most. And then we are suddenly thrust into a position to be surrounded 24/7 by the people that we love AND fight with the most. Its a cruel paradox.

 Fortunately, beyond the love I have for my family, I actually really like them all as well. Don't get me wrong , its not all sunshine and daisies around here. We make each other crazy at times, need a break from each other at other times, but for how isolated we have been from outside contact, interactions, and daily life, we are managing to get along quite well.

Am I scared of catching this virus? I guess I am, but maybe in a way that differs from most. My lungs have some issues that put me at a higher risk for it becoming life threatening. That doesn't scare me. What scares me is this; I am not done raising my boys. I would not want them to have to go through losing a parent and then coping with the massive changes that would inevitably follow.  I worry about the impending economic struggles that will follow this pandemic more than fighting the virus. All we can do is be safe and diligent and live day to day.

 COVID-19 has really changed the world more in a few short months than I ever thought was possible.

On a positive note, there have been many benefits to the shelter-in-place/stay-at-home orders. Families are being forced to spend time together, learning to get along with one another, preparing meals together, eating together, interacting as teacher and students.
The air has not been this clean in years. Not just here, but many places around the world. Oil is at its lowest usage in decades. The planet is probably breathing a sigh of relief.

 I have been able to get in some extra rides in between rainy days and work duties. The skies have been amazing to say the least. But it was unsettling the first ride after the initial shelter-in-place order was issued. Everything did seem off... because it was. As I passed through areas that I used to frequent, it was like reminiscing as you walked an abandoned town that you once lived in: "There is the club I used to work out at. That used to be a movie theater where I would to take my family. This is the school that my kids went to." All sit abandoned, their parking lots empty. Even the wildlife seems a bit confused by the lack of people and traffic.

Then, the town falls behind me, as I peddle on. The road stretches out before me, the clouds add depth and contrast to a deep blue sky. I inhale my medicine, feel the wind on my face, and distance myself socially from my family...for a little while.