Buehler, Eno, and Another Concert

       It's been a bit chilly in Durham the past few days.  Last Saturday's snow is still around in shady areas, and the wind has a bite.  But it is December.
      Yesterday the dogs got up early so we took them for an early morning walk on the Al Buehler trail around the golf course.  It was almost empty, except for the Duke lacrosse team on a training run.  I use the word "run" loosely.  It appears that the team was divided into squads of about six each.  They each had a wheelbarrow containing a couple of sacks of concrete mix and they had a large rock which they were passing back and forth. One group was loosely chained together.  It was a bizarre scene as they were trying to run, pass the rock back and forth, and push the wheelbarrow up and down the hills of the trail.
     Nan spent a large portion of the day doing the first read-through of the papers she is correcting.  I wrote and worked on a re-write of several scenes in my play.  Later in the P.M. we took the dogs for another walk over at Eno River State Forest.  During the week this time of year you have the place pretty much to yourself, and the dogs love it.  Finn loves "the hunt".  When he gets a scent or sees squirrels or deer he wants to take off on the chase.  We'll never see him again if the leash ever breaks.

     This evening I went back over to the Duke Chapel for the Christmas Concert of the Duke University Chorale.  We had gone last year, and enjoyed it.  This year's concert was very similar to last years in terms of content.  They blend was excellent on most pieces.  There were a few pitch problems on a couple of the numbers however.  It is difficult for a large choir to hear each other in such a massive venue, particularly on the accapella numbers.  The other distracting thing was the number of crying babies.  The acoustics seemed better for the babies than for the choir at times.
     In any event, it was another nice way to spend an evening and get in the Christmas spirit and do a little singing as well as the audience got to sing some carols.  Admission was the donation of can goods for the Durham food pantries.  Last year they collected over 2000 lbs of food.  Good job Duke Chorale.