"You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt" (--Unknown)

 I've been trying to walk around the Duke campus each day for an hour whenever I take lunch for the day.   I browsed through Duke Gardens last week and thought about how pretty it is there, even in winter.

Nothing much is blooming, but the terraces and fountains, the chattering birds, and the conifers that stay green all year long are still beautiful.

 

The Nasher Museum of Art has fabulous outdoor sculptures of men crouched low and hugging the trees, and written all over these guys are the names of famous musical composers throughout the centuries.

The heron that frequents a lake in the gardens doesn't care if it's winter; he and the ducks are still happy. 

And statues and bridges still highlight the landscape, making it all serene and lovely.

We're fortunate that we're not getting deluged with snow the way much of the country is right now, and even though it's been chilly, the weather's turning milder and it's beautiful on this oasis of a campus.

Tomorrow night's the big basketball game for the Blue Devils: the rivalry between Duke and UNC is the stuff of legend, and tomorrow's the big night.  All the students who've camped out for weeks on end in the cold will know if they get tickets for the big event.

I'm actually a fan of both teams, so it'll be difficult for me. 

"Rivalry adds so much to the charms of one's conquests."  (--Louisa May Alcott)