I can now say that a long break from flying does indeed dull the skills.
After my long business trip I had two back-to-back lessons and found that I’m not as sharp on my landings and pattern work as I once was. Even going out to do the normal maneuvers proved to be a bit sloppy for me. Lesson 13 was just about trying to remember what I had learned previously, and I did slip up a bit, but the landing went OK. Lesson 14 took me to Livermore, where I blew the whole approach, landing, and pattern, but did OK on one of the touch-and-go’s.
Practice does make perfect when it comes to flying, that is for sure.