As new routines form from the raw clay of the Pandemic, Monday mornings are becoming the time when I assess recent information that I’ve learned from Zoom chats with family and from six-feet conversations with neighbors, and then make a game plan for the week.

My game plans don’t exceed the five or six days ahead, because no one has a crystal ball. On this morning’s walk/podcast — a new and positive element of my new routine — a science fiction writer on The Daily said that the virus could be with us for a full four years, until a vaccine can be developed.

I’m not ready to make those sorts of year-long plans yet, but my week-long plan is formulated using recent news, like information from my neighbor that lost her mother-in-law, a super healthy 70-year old, to the virus. Two weeks ago, she lost her grandmother. In my complicated calculus, I’m also including news about the growing number of friends and family who are being laid off or furloughed. So, health and job security must be paramount in any plan.

Work-wise, we’re okay at the moment, as long as I make sure that Steve can devote all his attention to his job. So, my job is everything else. Check. I can do that.

Health-wise, we’re also okay. We’ve been practicing social distancing very strictly for weeks; I started making changes a week before everyone else. I’m still going to the post office and supermarket once a week, but I devote the rest of the day to decontamination. Even with masks and Clorox wipes, we might get sick, but our chances are slim.

Our plans for Jonah’s college education and Ian’s high school education are still in flux. I’m gathering useful gossip from the parents’ Facebook page for Jonah’s college. I have to make some phone calls to the local community college this morning to see if they have an online summer catalog.

Having a 20-year old boy cooped up in the house for this long is like looking at a hungry tiger pacing his cage. Jonah has been unbelievably philosophical about having to live with his parents and missing out on college. Truly an A+ kid. But I’m worried about him; this situation feels unhealthy. We talked about letting him get a job and then quarantining him in one corner of the house, but there are too many downsides to that plan.

Ian’s school is staring online classes this week, so I’ll have to see how that works out before I make some drastic changes. I’m working with a school behaviorist to correct certain autistic quirks that sometimes makes life at home difficult right now.

We’re still in one of the nation’s infection hotspots, so I doubt we’ll see any reopening here soon. While it’s impossible for me to get my head around the idea of living like this for years, I should start to come up with plans that go beyond Friday.

I’ll be back later this afternoon with some more upbeat posts — links and photographs.