Remains of the Day

Daily Incense

It has been my habit since August to light an incense stick every morning when I first sit down at my desk.  I brought these 16"- long incense sticks from Taiwan; we found them in a specialty shop in an old district of Taipei where Chinese medicine stores congregate.  The incense emits a very subtle scent with barely visible smoke when lighted.  Each stick burns almost exactly an hour (the ember dies out in 01:00:55), and like sand through the hourglass, the passage of time is made visible through its diminishing length.  I also use it to make sure that I get in my hour's practice at the piano every day. The charred stumps of the incense sticks planted helter-skelter in the incense cup in the picture are the remains of my days.