I have been spending my afternoons at UNC, configuring workstations for a new domain. So I get home about half an hour earlier than usual. I have enjoyed working there, at Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, amidst the research and young crowd. The people there are less staid that what I am used to, and it is uplifting to see so many working to better humanity rather than just making money.

I came home today and went for a ten-minute walk before coming in. I started a fire in the fireplace, thinking that we might not be having many more days when a fire would be appropriate. It has been a warm winter so far, with just one snowfall of 1-2cm, which melted by the next day. It's nearly 9pm, and there are just glowing logs left in there. I like to watch the fire and listen to its crackling.

I am still having trouble with my morning practice. I don't get up early enough to work in all the different practices. Then, when I get home, I don't feel up to it anymore. Not sure what to do. I think I will eventually work out a solution, but so far I am a little down about it. This morning I played my tar for a while. I wish I had time to do it more, too. Nothing like a little prayer and drumming to start the day!

Oops, I did it again! Yes, a couple of years ago a Picasso/Matisse exhibition came to the Triangle and I procrastinated so long that I ended up having to go into the show somewhere around 5a.m. (they held the museum open 24 hours for the final week). Such crowds that they were issuing entrance tickets for hourly intervals. Well, you guessed it. This time it's only one guy, Monet. And the place is so crowded that they are doing it again. And I have two tickets to get into the show at 5:30a.m. Sunday morning. I heard on the radio that 200 thousand people visited the Picasso show. I remember going to a Rodin show at the Art Institute in Chicago under similar circumstances, I mean not the a.m. entrance but large crowds of people viewing the work. I saw the Rodin in the evening.

Made a big change in morning practice. Starting with the second Wali Ali class, the breath class. I am having a hard time adjusting. Getting up at 6:10 and then doing Qi Gung for a while and then the wazifa and breath practices crowds me up against 7:30 when I have to leave for work. I see progress, though. I think I will split the practice to include some in the evening, otherwise I can't get it done. I have always been a late-night person, and it is difficult to go to bed before 11. I like to wake up at 7, not 6, but there is no way to do this now.

Charleston!

I had never been to Charleston, although have driven past the I-95 turnoff a dozen times on my way to Florida. Well, during the week between Christmas and New Year's I went there. My wife and I joined up with some friends to explore.

Stayed at a normal motel, even after asking the desk manager for a nonsmoking room, guess what we got. It was so overpowered with other smelly odors (supposed to be good smells, but not for me) that we did not identify the smoke until the second day, by then it did not seem worth the hassle to move our stuff to another room - but it would have been worth it had I known that we would come in to the same smoke smell every time. It never got less noticeable.

All the same, walking around was great. Charleston is full of 18th and 19th century houses -- and mansions. I have never seen so many majestic homes in one location. And it seemed that nearly every one had a fence or wall around its own garden, and many of those had fountains. Walking at night you could hear the splashing of water everywhere.

There are several old plantations outside town that you can tour. Everything costs money, though. We went to the Magnolia Plantation, which was a very pretty and open place. The main house was not as grandiose as some of those we had already seen, but the land was wonderful. We walked out on dikes surrounding what used to be rice fields. Saw some alligators, and lots of birds. I got some photos of a red-shouldered hawk sitting on a branch about 15 feet away, and then we watched as he dove into the swamp and came up with some kind of lizard, which he took off to some other tree to eat.

We also went to the Audubon's Beidler Forest, or at least the swamp part of it. There is a 1.5 mile boardwalk loop through the swamp. Like the plantation, lots of cypress and tupelos. Lots of birds too. Saw a 1000-year-old tree, and the guide said there is one 1500 years old in that swamp, but we missed it.

Perfect weather, in the 60s, clear or partly cloudy. It did not rain until the evening before we were to leave. I have definitely had my fill of fish and shrimp though.

Came home on NY Eve day and went to the DUP NYE dance, where I drummed. Fun!