There’s drizzle on my window, tea on the stove, an apartment in disarray around me.

In this apartment is a cello, on extended loan from a friend, but in need of some TLC. The instrument seems sound enough, with four strings that resonate when plucked and no giant pieces missing. Cosmetically, though, it’s been around the block.

I’ve tamed (or at least tackled) a lot of instruments in my life: piano, organ, clarinet, flute, French horn, bass guitar and various marimbas and percussive devices. Friends still express shock when learning about my not-so-secret past; I’m better known as a guy with a camera.

To me, the cello represents a form of maximum expression that seems difficult on many other instruments. I’ve wanted one for years. It’s been said that the cello is the closest approximation of a human voice; I might be able to make you cry with a piano, but could I do it with a single line of notes – no chords expressing major or minor modes?

A new bow is needed. Amazon to the rescue; we’ll know if I can draw a pleasant sound out of it in a week.

Autumn in Action: I created this multimedia project last year, accompanied by cello