HOW I SPENT THE WEEKEND

posted by James Reel

    Here’s what I’ve done since Friday afternoon:
    1. For myself: I started working in a new key (F major) and third position on the cello. If I keep at it, in a few months I’ll be able to play ineptly in all 24 keys, all over the fingerboard.
    2. For my bank account, and by extension my household: I edited two articles by Margaret Regan for the coming issue of the Tucson Weekly, finished a little proofreading job for a guy who’s writing a book on local train history, updated the Fanfare Web site in my capacity as the magazine’s webmaster, and reviewed two plays for the Weekly.
    3. For my friends: I gave the pre-performance talk Sunday afternoon for the season’s final Chamber Music Plus Southwest presentation, so my pal and cello teacher Harry Clark would have a few more minutes to change from his Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops into more appropriate concert attire, and his wife, pianist Sanda Schuldmann, could chat a few more minutes with actor John Rubinstein, who’s full of good stories about his father, Artur Rubinstein.
    4. For my community: I spent Saturday morning working with a group in my neighborhood that’s cleaning up and restoring a little section of Anklam Wash, where many of us walk our dogs and frolic in various ways. With a grant from PRO Neighborhoods, we’re building a series of trincheras, or little rock dams, along two major erosion channels. The trincheras will slow the flow of rain runoff entering the wash and allow silt to build up behind the rocks. This will repair the erosion damage, give the water a little more soil to soak into along the way, and provide growing space for native plants, which will themselves help control erosion. It’s a technique that’s been used in this region for centuries, though not by contemporary civil engineers.
    I don’t often accomplish something in every category in a single weekend, so I’m pretty satisfied with the way the past few days have turned out. Except that I didn’t have a chance to read for pleasure, do the ironing or go grocery shopping. Ah, well … a new week begins.