It has been weeks since I studied for Scrabble. In fact, my flashcards are still in my green duffle bag, unpacked, from Nationals. The entire bag, still zipped, sits next to the laundry basket in my closet. My stems notebook is in the bookcase. I intended to take a couple of days off from studying after getting back from New Orleans. It was the rational thing to do. There was plenty to occupy my time in August.

But now it is September. Past mid-September. I haven't been to club in weeks. This week looks iffy, too. At this point, I've scheduled no tournaments.

So obviously, although there's been no formal thought process on this, I've gone into a Scrabble sabbatical-type period. I’m a little alarmed by this.