Elda Berlin is a first grader at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School. “I’m a little bit older than six and three quarters,” she says.

Her unsung heroic qualities? Rolling with the subdued chaos of sheltering in place without driving her parents crazy.

Her days now, like the days of many children around the Island, are very familiar routines.

“Well, I have breakfast, I do some schoolwork, I watch Magic School Bus, I bike with my Dad to get lunch at the West Tisbury School, then I come home and sit around for awhile.”

No school or play-dates can get kind of lonely.

“I miss my friends,” Elda says. “We do Zoom classes with school but I only see four friends when I do that.”

Thankfully, there is music in the house. Her father, Jeremy Berlin, plays piano for Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, among other gigs.

“My dad prints out the words and I sing them.”

And what kind of songs does she gravitate to?

“Mostly sad songs,” she says.

On Saturday Elda performed a Cure song at the Ritz Zoom-cast with her dad accompanying her on keys. When urged, she sings the opening lines: “I don’t care if Monday’s blue, Tuesday’s gray and Wednesday too, Thursday I don’t care about you, It’s Friday, I’m in love.”

She also performed Que Sera Sera for the Unitarian Universalist Society service on Sunday.

Although the coronavirus is a downer, Elda says she has been able to look on the bright side.

“People are not out driving so there is less pollution. And my parents don't have to wake me up and I get to stay up late.”

— Bill Eville