September the First

This was supposed to be posted on September 1^st to kick off my renewed commitment to writing…which went something like “Sure, I slacked off this summer, but starting September 1^st, I’m going to write every day, no matter what.” Famous last words. “No matter what” was a slight exaggeration. Life happens. Family comes in town from India. Other family members have housewarming parties in New Jersey that you need to attend. Road trips ensue. Crazy masses of relatives descend upon you and fail recognize you might need a moment’s peace. Then, as the day comes to a close and you find a place of more or less stillness, the Wi-Fi you had been relying on to actually work, fails to do so from the corner of the basement you’ve eked out for yourself. You want to jump up and down. You want to pull your hair out. Your mind ignores the fact that this is truly a First World problem. Its anal, obsessive, perfectionist mode has been switched on and it rams itself against your skull, demanding an answer. Luckily, your heart’s in the right place. And though your head would argue, your heart knows that pestering your aunt -- who has been up to her neck in a sea of berserk extended family, of which you are one -- to reset the router when she has to get up in five hours to prepare the house for another onslaught would be a little…unkind. This is my lesson on this first(ish) day of the month. So I will rest, reassuring my mind that even as I save this (offline) at 12:30am on September 2, it is still September 1^st in much of this vast nation of ours.